ASPECTS OF THE MORPHOLOGY IN YESKWA LANGUAGE
BY
ALAO, JANET OPEYEMI
MATRIC/ NO.
07/15CB036
A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
LINGUISTICS AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF
ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN, KWARA STATE,
NIGERIA.
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE
AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (B.A. HONS.)
IN LINGUISTICS.
MAY, 2011.
1
CERTIFICATION
This long essay has been read and approved as meeting the
requirements for the Award of Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) Degree in
Linguistics of the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages,
Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, kwara State.
______________________
____________
MRS. S. O.O. ABUBAKRE
DATE
(Project supervisor)
_______________________
____________
PROF. A.S. ABDUSSALAM
DATE
(Head of Department)
_______________________
____________
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
DATE
2
DEDICATION
To the Awesome and mighty God, He whose banner over me is
LOVE.
And
To my loving and caring parents, Dr. and Mrs. ’Gbenga Alao.
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My sincere gratitude and appreciation goes to master Jesus, who has
been my source of strength, help and comfort. All I am and will be is to His
great glory.
My heart filled gratitude goes to my one in a million parents, Dr. and
Mrs. ’Gbenga Alao who through all the odds of life pushed me through with
their sincere love, care, prayer, and selfless hard work to make the best out
of me. Also to my precious brother, Alao ’Gbenga for being there for me. I
love u all.
Till eternity I will be grateful to Prophet Shadrack Olutimehin and
family, Emmanuel Olorunjubeelo, Mr. and Mrs. Oyesola, Eyitayo Aluko for
their support, advice and prayers. Also to all MFMCFITES (we care!)
Unilorin chapter.
I want to appreciate all my informants, Mr. Ayema Efuna, Mr.
Zachariah Muhammed, Mr. Abudullahi Aminu, for their effort in making my
4
research a good success, also a help in time of need, Adeyanju Olaitan
Jennifer.
My utmost gratitude to Mrs. Abubakre my supervisor, you are truly a
priceless gem, thanks in a million times for your care and advice.
I am indebted to all my lecturers in the department of linguistics and
Nigerian languages, for nurturing me in this lucrative field of study; Prof. A.
S. Abdussalam (H.O.D), Prof. G. Fakuade, Dr. Ore Yusuf, Dr. I. O. Sanusi ,
Dr. Oyebola, Mr. Rafiu, Mrs. Arokoyo, Mr. Aje, Mr.Friday-Otun, among
others.
I want to say a very big thank you to all my friends and co-linguists
graduating in 10/11 session, Alabi Rachael, Opeyemi Kazeem (orilo),
Bamidele Bukola, Yomi francis Violet, Odebode Akeem(Class Rep.). Also
to my wonderful roommates for their understanding and love, Olaleye Taiwo
and Kehinde, Williams Oluwabunmi.
Adeboye Christopher my pearl thanks a lot, for your love, advice,
encouragement, and prayers. I am not leaving you out Adeboye Gracious
and Adeboye’s family thank you, thank you for motivating me always.
5
“Thank you all”.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviation/symbol
Meaning
+
plus or added to
=
equals to
Sg
singular form
Pl
plural form
Adj
adjective
N
noun
Adv
adverb
V
verb
Prep
preposition
~
alternates
/
high tone
6
\
low tone
˅
rising tone
!
exclamation mark
→
changes to
7
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgement
iv - v
List of Abbreviations
vi - vii
Table of Content
viii - xi
CHAPTER ONE: YESKWA LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS
1.0
General Introduction
1-2
1.1
Historical Background
3-5
1.2
The Administrative Circle
5-6
1.3
Geographical Location and Map
6-7
1.4
Socio- Cultural Profile
8 - 10
1.4.1 Religion
10 - 11
8
1.4.2 Marriage
11 - 12
1.4.3 Festival
12 - 14
1.5
Genetic Classification
14 - 16
1.6
Scope and organization of study
17 - 18
1.7
Data collection
18 - 19
1.8
Data analysis
20
1.9
Brief Review of theoretical Framework
20 - 22
CHAPTER TWO: SOUND INVENTORIES AND SOUND PATTERNS
IN YESKWA
2.0
Introduction
23 - 24
2.1
Sound inventories in Yeskwa language
24
2.1.1 The vowel in Yeskwa Language
24 - 25
2.1.1.1
26 - 28
Vowel sound occurrence in Yeskwa
2.1.2 The consonant in Yeskwa language
29
2.1.2.1
29 - 38
Consonants sounds occurrence Yeskwa
2.1.3 Suprasegmental features in Yeskwa language
38
2.1.3.1
39 - 41
Tonal Inventory
9
2.2
Syllable structure of Yeskwa language
41 - 42
2.2.1 Basic syllabic structure in Yeskwa Language
42 - 44
CHAPTER THREE: ASPECTS OF YESKWA MORPHOLOGY
3.0
Introduction
45
3.1.
Morphology of Yeskwa
45 - 47
3.1.1 Morphemes in Yeskwa language
48 - 49
3.1.2 Morpheme types
50
3.1.2.1
Free morpheme in Yeskwa language
51 - 52
3.1.2.1.1
Functional morpheme Yeskwa language
52 - 53
3.1.2.1.2
Lexical morpheme Yeskwa language
53 - 55
3.1.2.2
Bound morpheme Yeskwa language
55 - 56
3.1.2.2.1
Inflectional morpheme in Yeskwa language56 - 58
3.1.2.2.2
Derivational morpheme in Yeskwa language 58 - 60
3.2
Allomorphs in Yeskwa language
60 – 63
3.3
Morphology of word class in Yeskwa language
63 - 64
3.3.1 Nouns
64 – 66
3.3.2 Pronouns
66 – 68
10
3.3.3 Verbs
69 - 70
3.3.4 Adjectives
70
3.3.5 Adverbs
70
3.3.6 Prepositions
71
3.3.7 Conjunctions
71
3.3.8 Interjections
72
3.4
72 – 73
Morphological language typology
74 – 77
3.4.1 Isolating language
CHAPTER FOUR: MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN YESKWA
LANGUAGE
4.0
Introduction
78
4.1
Compounding in Yeskwa language.
79 - 80
4.2
Reduplication in Yeskwa language.
81 - 82
4.3
Affixation in Yeskwa language.
82
4.3.1 Prefixation in Yeskwa language.
82 - 84
4.3.2 Suffixation in Yeskwa language.
84
4.3.3 Zero Affixation in Yeskwa language
85 - 86
11
4.4
Borrowing in Yeskwa language.
86
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, OBSERVATION, CONCLUSION
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0
Introduction
87
5.1
Summary
87 - 88
5.2
Observation
89 - 90
5.3
Conclusion
90
5.4
Recommendation
90 - 91
References
92 - 96
Appendix
97 – 119
CHAPTER ONE
YESKWA LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS
1.0
General Introduction
Language is a major means of communication, interaction and relation
in the human society. Language is the network that connects human society
together in a lively mood making it a lively place to stay.
12
Language is “human vocal sound, or it is the graphic representation of
signs and symbol, gesticulations and signals for the purpose of
communication.” Language is simultaneously a physical process and a way
of sharing meaning among people, a language in this sense is a system of
signs for encoding and decoding information. In another words, language is
“an instrument of thought, that is, a psycho social interactive measure which
binds human society together in communities and linguistic groups.” The
use of language has become deeply entrenched in human culture and, apart
from being used to communicate and share information, it also has social
and cultural uses, such as signifying group identity, social stratification and
for social grooming and entertainment.
This work serves as a channel to show case Yeskwa language and also
to bring it into the lime light of the real world of the academician.
Yeskwa language is spoken in the north- west of Nasarawa state, in
Karu local government area and Kaduna state in Jema’a local government
area, all in the Northern region of Nigeria. Yeskwa language is spoken by
about
thirty-two
thousand
speakers
13
[32,000]
as
at
2008
[from
Ethnologue.com]. Most of the speakers are multilingual, that is, they are able
to speak more than their native language [Yeskwa].
This work will concentrate on the morphological aspects of Yeskwa
language, that is, the organization of words and formation of words,
studying to bring out the morphological beauty of the language by
identifying, analyzing and describing forms of words, the morphemes; free
and bound morphemes; Derivational versus inflectional, morphological
processes and many more in Yeskwa language.
1.1
Historical Background of Yeskwa People.
The first Nyankpa man who lived during the pre-historic era came
from a place called “Darigo”. This place was named after the founder of the
language, till now this mystical place form parts of the areas around the hills
located North East and West of the present Kwoi, in Kaduna state across to
Gitata, Bagaji up to Uke areas of the Nasarawa state.
Darigo, was married to Obiche, with whom they had many children,
some of the children are named, Ovurgbe, Onat, Onok (all males) and
14
Oching (female). The grand children to Darigo produced by his biological
children grew up to different clans present in Nyankpa land both at home
and in diasporas. Ovurgbe’s children later became the Ovurgbe clan,
Onatat’s offspring was shaped into Ontat clan and those of Onok are
believed to have been the pioneer of the old Nok of famous archeological
monuments and indeed environs like Kafanchan, Kagoro and Zonkwa area
in the present Kaduna state. It is believed that, Mada and Eggon language
sprung Oching’s lineage today. The Nyankpa people are thus one of the
proud archaeological ethno-linguistic clusters of the famous Nok area.
A permanent foot mark and other archaeological evidence of this prehistoric advent of Nyankpa language is present at the orally authentic place
of origin called ‘Darigo’.
From the other hand, Yeskwa language speakers migrated from
Maiduguri, a part in the northern Nigeria. In the bush they migrated to then,
which is now their present permanent location of habitation, the name of the
language was derived from the situation of their immigrants fore-father,
meaning ‘we deviate or leave from Maiduguri to this bush then what are we
15
to call ourselves’ i.e. Nyankpa is formed from two words, leaves “ankpa”
and deviation.
The people are called Yeskwa both in literature and by the Hausas,
but they call themselves “Nyankpa” and their language “Nyankpa”. The
language is having Panda, Bede, Gitata (Buzi) and Tattara as the main
dialects of Yeskwa language, while Tattara is the standard form of the
language and Bede the most divergent dialects of Yeskwa language. The
alternative names are Anyankpa and Yasgua (according to ethnologue). The
population of the people have graciously increased year after year because in
1973(Summer Institute of Linguistics) they are about 13,000 but as at 2008
they are about 32,000 in number. The language is not threatened by any
neighboring language or prestigious language like Hausa language.
1.2
The Administrative Circle of Yeskwa Speakers
Prior to the advent of colonial rule in Nigeria and before the 19 th
century, Nyankpa people had an advanced functional system of governance,
with their well shaped clans that stayed independent of each other. Each clan
16
had a head that gives justice and also makes sure that each clan is well
administered to.
These heads who are called ‘odyongutep’ as the title also preside over
meeting in their clans in all matters, and they have the house or compound
heads and elders of the clans as their assistance in performing their duties
right.
In addition odyongutep were juju priest odyong nyanpka in each clan
who perform purely ritual rites. Their functions are mainly based on general
issues of discipline, and these are usually done in the juju shrine ‘ofu’. Also
these priests have selected elders called ‘Asa cisa’ to give a helping hand.
The present odyong nyankpa is Joel Sabo Awinge.
1.3
Geographical Location and Map
The language speakers of Yeskwa language are located in the
Northern part of Nigeria. About seven hundred kilometers or more away
from Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. The speakers of
Yeskwa language are founded in Karu Local Government Area also
17
formerly known as Keffi LGA in Nasarawa State, and Jema’a Local
Government Area in Kaduna State.
18
Fig. 1 Yeskwa’s map
1.4
Socio-Cultural Profile
Yule (2007:239) describes “sociolinguistics as the interrelationship
between two language and society”. Socio-cultural is formed from three
word or terms; language, society and cultural. (2007:239):
“It is important not to overlook this social aspect of
language because, in many ways, speech is a form of social
identity and is used consciously or unconsciously to indicate
19
membership of different social groups or different speech
communities. A speech communities is a group of people who
share a set of norms, rules and expectations regarding the use
language. Investigating from this perspective is known as
“SOCIOLINGUISTICS”.
Yeskwa language speakers have so many social plus cultural activities
and lifestyles that distinguish them from their neighbouring communities.
They treat these social-cultural ways of life with great reverence. Some of
these
social-cultural
activities
will
be
exposed.
Occupation: Yeskwa people engage mainly in farming, they plant millet
(Acha) , cassava (Logo), maize (Vuza), rice (Siyapa), okra (Anvwago),
sweet potato (Juma), sugar cane (Oleke), guava (Nkpocho), cotton (Aluru),
locust seeds (Emi), monkey-guava (Onkpwat), cowpea (Enep), sorghum
(Avu ), guinea-yam (Ocit) and so on. They are involved both in annual and
perennial farming. This is the major reason the men are polygamous,
because both wives and children help the man in farming processes. After
the harvest the women take their product to the market for sale. And in cases
20
when the products are in large quantity they export them to other
communities and also outside the state which is known as “dam” in Yeskwa
language.
Dressing: There is also something special about the way they dress. The
ancestors of Yeskwa people covered their nakedness with leaves, the women
cover both breast and private part only with leaves. Later on, they improved
on their dressing changing from the use of leaves to what they call “bente”
which is made from animal skin (this animals like leopard, cow, ram, etc.)
This improved way of dressing was in the 17th century and it went into
extinction in the 70s. The ‘bente’ way of dressing is majorly used by the
men in order to hold their male organ (penis) tightly. The women on the
other hand made use of animal skin to cover their breast with small piece of
the animal skin to cover their private part, which is made in form of short
wrapper
that
wrapped
their
waist
to
cover
their
private
part.
As the world become more civilized in dressing, the modern way of
dressing among the Yeskwa speakers is to cover their nakedness with sewed
underwear like pants for both women and men alike, and brassiere for the
21
women especially those in their youth age. Then the outer covering with
sowed materials, for men, shirts and trousers, and women, skirts, wrappers
and blouses.
1.4.1 Religion
In ages past, the ancient fathers of Yeskwa people (Anyankpa) engage
in traditional religion. They worship ‘Nan’ as their main god and some
masquerades to be specific they worship, namely; ‘terefu’, ‘jaku’, ‘dagba’,
‘awiya’, ‘ambabe’, ‘donko’, ‘yaka’, ‘gbarato’, ‘ofu’, ‘ogbeke’ and so on.
The story changed when the white missionaries came for mission in the land
in 1912, through this Christianity was introduced in the land and
community. Later on Islam was brought into Yeskwa through the influence
of Usman Danfodio’s jihads. As at present, the population of the Christians
among the people has greatly increased and has risen high above other
religions with the percentage 70% and the ratio seventy to thirty (70:30) to
both traditional religion and Islam.
1.4.2 Marriage
22
Marriage is the formal union of a man and a woman as husband and
wife. Marriage is a means by which reproduction can take place by further
multiplying and increase in the population of a community.
This aspect of life is not taken by levity at all by yeskwa people, but
with much seriousness. Bosom friends (men) marry off their daughters to
each other right from the time their wives are pregnant (even as at the time
they haven’t known the sex of the unborn baby). After their wives put to
bed, the father of the baby boy present large quantity of dried locust bean
powder to the mother of the baby girl with which her meal is prepared till
she is about seven years old (7yrs) when the baby is seven years old her
parent will bring her to her husband’s house, although, she will be under the
care of her mother-in-law. From that age, it is a must that she pays her
husband respect till when she is old. When she is old enough i.e. when she
reaches her puberty stage she will leave the mother-in-law to settle down
with her husband. The process is called ‘zam’ by the people meaning
traditional marriage. Through this method ladies virtue and dignity and is
preserved and treated with high regards and reverence.
23
Among the yeskwa people, polygamous is rampart and a normal way
of life. A man can have up to twelve wives and even more, depending on the
capacity. Polygamous is a way of helping the man in his farming occupation,
that is both the wives and their children helps the father in farming on his
farm. Apart from the father’s (husband’s) farmland, the wives have each or
different farmlands to themselves also each child is entitled to have a
farmland to his/herself. After working with their father, they retire to work
on theirs.
1.4.3 Festival
Festival is a day or period of celebration, and this is the time people
from different homes comes together in the universal lively mood in the
town to celebrate in yeskwa. This is a time, when numerous socio cultural
belt of harmony fastened more tightly among the people. The Yeskwa’s
have numerous festivals, in this research work only two will be show cased.
Yeskwa people celebrate a festival called ‘ekokop’ by them when a
grandfather has four grandsons. This festival came to life because of their
belief that the sons are strong and gift from their gods. This festival is a way
24
of showing appreciation to the gods for blessing them with special gift. The
grandfather provides meals to all the invitees during the ceremony.
The second festival that the Yeskwa’s will never treat with levity even
though their religion (Christianity or Islam) is not in support of which they
still celebrate is ‘turning of the dead’. This is done after some years a person
has died, during the celebration a masquerade will represent the dead person,
then horns called ‘ezo ezo’ a long wooden horn will be played with what
they call ‘ontom’ during the ceremony. The people also call the masquerades
voice ‘ekpaciri’.
Their believe about this, is that it is a way of making the journey of
the dead safe to heaven, they also believe that any family who refuses to
perform this tradition can lead to a dead trap to the other living members of
the family. It is one of the family members who is a matured man that
usually put on the masquerade cloth, and this masquerades represent the
dead person on earth. During all these festivals, there is usually merry all
over the community because they are wishing one of them who is dead a
safe and smooth trip to heaven.
25
The points that has been discussed under the broad topic sociocultural using Yeskwa language, has proved and showed that the Yeskwas
are rich and wealthy when it comes to culture and tradition.
1.5
Genetic Classification
Ruhlen (1994:1) states that; “the idea that groups of languages that
share certain systematic resemblance have inherited those similarities from a
common origin is the basis for genetic classification”. Also Greenberg
(1966:8) explained that African languages belong to various families, and
there are four main groups namely; Niger-kordofian, Nilo-sahara, Afroasiatic and Khoisan.
Yeskwa language is related to other African languages through the
diagram of genetic classification. This means or portrays that all languages
grouped under African languages relates in one way or the other, this is the
usefulness of genetic classification.
Yeskwa language is sub-grouped under the platoid-west of language
family. The below diagram figure shows the detailed classification of
Yeskwa language.
26
AFRICAN LANGUAGES
NIGER KORDOFANIAN
ARFO-ASIATIC
NILO-SAHARA
KORDOFANIAN
NIGER-CONGO
MANDE
BUNTU
KHOISAN
GUR
WEST
ATLANTIC
27
BENUE
CONGO
KRU
ADAMAWA
EASTERN
KWA
PLATOID
BANTOID
JUKUNOID
BEROMIC
CROSS-RIVER
NINZIC
NDUNIC
EAST
TAROKOID
NORTH
WEST
SOUTHERN
ALUMIC
GYONGIC
IJU
TYAP
IRIGWE
YESKWA
KORO
HYAMIC
Fig. 2 Source: R. Blench (2006)
1.6
Scope and Organization of Study
In this research work, an attempt has been made to investigate the
aspect of the morphology of the Yeskwa language spoken in Nasarawa,
Karu Local Government (formerly Keffi) and Kaduna state, Jema’a Local
Government.
28
Thus, the study in general has been systematically divided into five
chapters, with each chapter containing relevant linguistic information about
the morphology of the language.
Chapter one addresses the introductory part of this work, it includes
the general background of Yeskwa, the historical location where the people,
the geographical location where the people speaking Yeskwa language can
be found, the socio-cultural profile, with their religion, marriage and festival
inclusive, the genetic classification of Yeskwa language, as well as the
theoretical framework, the data collection, data analysis gotten data from
Yeskwa language.
Chapter two examines the sound inventories and the sound patterns in
Yeskwa language with the distribution of vowel and consonant sounds
inclusive.
The third chapter probes into the aspects of the Yeskwa morphology;
morphemes types and language typologies in Yeskwa language, also
examined are the details of free and bound morphemes with their kinds in
Yeskwa language.
29
The fourth chapter focuses on the morphological processes that are
present in Yeskwa language, in the formation of new words.
Chapter
five,
the
last
chapter,
summarizes,
makes
some
recommendations and draws conclusion about the whole work also with the
references including the appendix containing the 400 word list.
1.7
Data Collection
The data collection was done through the use of Ibadan word list of
four hundred (400) lexical items. The method used in the data collection is
called contact method. The data collection was possible through the
language informants or helpers, who are native speakers of Yeskwa
language. Information about the informants used in this research work are as
follows; the first informant is Mr. Ayeme Efuna, thirty- four years old, he is
a state security officer by occupation. Mr. Zachariah Muhammed is the
second language helper, he is thirty years old, he works with the Nigeria
National Petroleum Company (NNPC). The duo are native of Kondoro in
Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa state, also both informant are
multilingual, aside Yeskwa language , they speak English, Hausa, Gbagi and
30
Eggon in addition to their native language. The minimum years they had
stayed in their home town is twenty-five years. The third informant is Mr.
Abudullahi Aminu, he is 63 years old, a native of Nasarawa state, a native
speaker of Yeskwa language, aside this he is able to speak Nupe, Hausa,
Yoruba and a bit of English language. He spent 25years in his home town,
by occupation he is a traditional medicine practitioner, also a Muslim by
religion.
1.8
Data Analysis
Based on the Ibadan 400 wordlist and the frame technique collected
through a direct translation from English into Yeskwa language the data was
analysed.
1.9
Brief Review of Theoretical Framework
Theories are bundles of abstract representation that occurs in the
linguistics repertoire of a linguist. Theories are propounded in order to
31
present a systematic account of the linguistic knowledge or the competence
of native speaker posses morphology like other levels of language analysis
has several theories that can be use to demystify it.
The frame technique that will be used in this research work is one of
the most valued approaches to morphology, this distinct approach was
codified by two scholars by name Bloomfield (1933) and Hockett (1954).
This approach is linked with structuralists’ linguistics because this approach
was probe into by Bloomfield in 1933 by organizing laws and rules which
later developed into a system in morphological linguistics.
The theoretical framework to be use in study is Morpheme based
morphology. Henceforth, sees word forms to be analysed as arrangements of
morphemes. Morpheme based morphology, a modern and sophisticated
approach seek to maintain the idea of the morpheme while accepting nonconcatenative, analogical and other processes that are problem free.
“A morpheme is defined as the minimal meaningful unit of a
language.”
32
This theory of morphology that treat words as if they were made up of
morphemes, place after each other like beads on a string is called item and
arrangement model. In English language for example the word
‘antidisestablishmentarianism’ is a single word in the dictionary but it is
the joining of morphemes. This word also proves the fact that in this model
is putting the above word arrangement in a language. The constituent can be
analysed as follows;
Anti- means preventing, like antivirus. [bound morpheme]
-dis - means not or the opposite. [bound morpheme]
-establish- means to start or create.[free morpheme]
-ment- means a derivational way, it changes the word to noun class
from verb class.[bound morpheme]
-arian- means a derivational way of changing word class [bound
morpheme].
This word comprises six morphemes; five bound morphemes and one
free morpheme.
33
Other examples:
I.
II.
Misfortune > mis- means bad [bound] + -fortunate means luck [free]
Misused > mis- [bound], -use – [free], -ed-[bound] represent past tense
III.
Unenviable> un-[bound]means ‘not’ +-envi- [free] +-able- [bound]
IV.
Tucker > tuck- [free] + -er- [bound]
V.
Triangle> tri- [bound] means three +-angle- [free] means shapes.
CHAPTER TWO
SOUND INVENTORIES AND SOUND PATTERNS IN YESKWA
2.0
Introduction
It is of great important to investigate little about the sound pattern of
Yeskwa language before moving into the real work (morphology). Wideranging from the definition of phonology by different linguists, the
distribution with the occurrence of vowel and consonant sounds in Yeskwa
34
language, to suprasegmental features present in Yeskwa language will be
conferred.
According to Matthews (2002: 2) ‘phonology is concerned with the
functionary of sound units within the system of individual languages’.
Hyman (1975: 2) define ‘phonology as the study of sound system, that is, the
study of how speech sounds structure and function in language’.
Phonology is a main field in the scientific study of language
(linguistics) that focuses on how sounds (smallest piece of language which
can be separately recognized and distinguished by human beings) are used
together or jointly mixed to create smallest meaningful unit of grammar
(morphemes).To be able to do this one must be able to describe the system
of the sounds attested to in the particular language. Katamba (1989 :1-2)
explain phonology further “as the branch of linguistic which investigate the
way in which sounds are used systematically in different languages to
understand to form words and utterances”.
35
Phonology helps to understand and give meaning to utterances in a
language. Phonology is a language specific and not universal, this means
that the way a language makes use of sounds differs from another.
2.1
Sound Inventories in Yeskwa Language
The sound inventories consist of the vowel, consonant and tones in the
language.
2.1.1 The Vowel in Yeskwa Language
Vowels are sounds produced without any obstruction to the airstream
in the vocal tract. Yeskwa language also known as Nyankpa has seven
phonetic vowels; [i], [e], [Ɛ], [a], [ↄ], [ó], [u]. This language does not have
nasal vowels like other African languages, but double vowels can occur in
some words in the languages, though this not common and it only occur in
vowel [ↄ] as clearly shown below;
(1)
όodaàvo
‘foot’
(2)
yàa
‘float’
36
In classifying vowel sounds, we need to describe using the following
four accepted parameters:
(1)
The part of the tongue (raised toward the centre, front or back or the
mouth).
(2)
Tongue height (high, mid-high, mid-low, low).
(3)
The position of the soft palate (velum), either in the oral position or
nasal position).
(4)
Rounding of lips (either round or unrounded).
2.1.1.1
Vowel Sounds Occurrence in Yeskwa Language
[i] – High front unrounded vowel. It occurs in word initial position,
medial and final position. Examples are;
Inkíjia
[ĩkíʤia] ‘food’
àchéíja
[àʧéíʤa] ‘oil palm’
37
àngúsí
[à̃gúsí] ‘millet’
[e] – front mid-high unrounded vowel. It occurs at the word initial
position, medial and final position. Examples are;
èbrín [èbrí̃ ] ‘fish’
énép [énép] ‘beans’
àsé [àsé] ‘oil’
[ε] – front mid-low unrounded vowel. It occurs in word initial
position, medial and final position. Examples are;
élím̀bá [ɛ́lím̀bá] ‘word’
ánèt [ánɛ̀t] ‘navel’
àmè [àmɛ̀] ‘water’
[a] – back unrounded vowel. It occurs in word initial position, medial,
and final position. Examples are;
àló [àló] ‘sleep’
38
ógbák [ógbák] ‘wind’
éjìa [éʣìa] ‘thing’
[ɔ] – back mid-low vowel. It occurs in word initial position, medial,
and final position. Examples are;
ódúòfá [ͻ́dúͻ̀fá] ‘God’
nfot [ɱ̃fͻt] ‘belly’
nto [ntͻ] ‘neck’
[o] – back mid- high vowel. It occurs in word initial position, medial,
and final position. Examples are;
ókóp [ókóp] ‘ten’
dók [dók]
fó [fó] ‘climb’
[u] – back high vowel. It occurs in word initial position, medial, and
final position. Examples are;
39
ùsu [ùsu] ‘remember’
vàru [vàru]
Front
Mid
Back
high
i
u
mid-high
e
o
mid- low
Ɛ
ↄ
low
a
fig .3 Yeskwa’s vowel chart
2.1.2 The Consonants in Yeskwa Language
Consonant are sounds produced with partial (incomplete) total
(complete) obstruction in the airstream in the vocal tract. Yeskwa language
has twenty-seven (27) consonant sounds: [p], [b], [t], [d], [k], [g], [kp], [gb],
[f], [v],[s], [z],[∫], [ᴣ], [dᶾ],[t∫],[h], [ɣ],[m], [n], [ŋ],[ɲ],[ɱ],[r], [l], [j], [w].
40
2.1.2.1
Consonant Sounds Occurrence in Yeskwa Language
Stops: These are consonant sounds produced by a complete obstruction of
the airflow in the vocal tract they include;
[p]: Voiceless bilabial stop. It occurs in word medial and final position.
Examples are;
èbèpa [èbὲpa] ‘heavy’
ókóp [ókóp] ‘ten’
[b]: Voiced bilabial stop. It occurs in word initial, medial and final position
as in;
bébétere [bébétere] ‘bad’
ábé [ábé] ‘breast’
ófúb [ófúb] ‘bone’
[t]: Voiceless alveolar stop. It occurs in word initial, medial and final
position as in;
41
tí [tí] ‘run’
ǹtát [ǹtát] ‘three’
éluót [éluót] ‘bite’
[d]: Voiced alveolar stop. It occurs in word initial, medial and final position
as in;
dók [dók] ‘send’
édé [édε] ‘knife’
òzàd [ͻ̀zàd] ‘hoe’
[k]: Voiceless velar stop. It occurs in word initial, medial and final position
as in;
kúrí [kúrí] ‘dry’
ǹkúfa [ǹkúfa] ‘new’
fépógbak [fépógbak] ‘blow’
42
[g]: Voiced velar stop. It occurs in word initial, medial and final position as
in;
gía [gía] ‘eat’
ógàjé [ógàʤé] ‘friend’
ènàg [ὲnàg] ‘cow’
[kp]: Voiceless labio velar stop. It occurs in word initial and medial position
as in;
kpӑ [kpӑ] ‘make’
èkpí [ὲkpí] ‘rat’
[gb]: Voiced labio velar stop. It occurs in word initial and medial position,
as in ;
gbàgbà [gbàgbá] ‘duck’
fépógbak [fépógbak] ‘blow’
Fricatives – These consonant sounds are produced when there is a partial
blockage of the airstream causing audible friction, or friction.
43
[f] : Voiceless labio dental fricative. It occurs in word initial and medial
position, as in;
fùlá [fùlá] ‘cap’
èfók [ὲfͻk] ‘cock’
[v]: Voiced labio dental fricative. It occurs in word initial and medial
position, as in;
vìlípìli [vìlípìli] ‘kite’
èvì [èvì] ‘snake’
[s]: Voiceless alveolar fricative. It occurs in word initial and medial position,
as in;
sèsé [sèsé] ‘give’
ògbése [ògbése] ‘head’
[z]: Voiced alveolar fricative. It occurs in word initial and medial position,
as in;
zèzè [zèzè] ‘good’
44
ézón [ézón] ‘sew’
[ʃ] : Voiceless alveolar fricative. It occurs in word initial and medial position
as in;
sisiá [ʃiʃiá] ‘untie’
ánshó [ãʃó] ‘saliva’
[Ʒ]: voiced alveolar fricative. It occurs in word initial position as in;
ànƷyí [ãƷi] ‘urine’
[ɣ] : voiced velar fricative. It occurs in word medial position as in;
ángrán [áɣán] ‘house’
ányárágran [ánjáráɣan] ‘compound’
[h]: Glottal fricative. It occurs in word medial position as in;
ántόhí [ãtόhí] ‘abuse’
Affricates – These sounds are made with stop closure but with a gradual
fricative release.
45
[ʧ]: Voiceless alveolar affricate. It occurs in word initial and medial
position
chěgà [ʧěgà] ‘look for’
èchùru [éʧùru] ‘hard’
[ʤ]: Voiced alveolar affricate. It occurs in word initial and medial, as in;
járá [ʤárá] ‘walk’
èjut [ὲʤut] ‘heart’
Nasals – These are sounds produced while the soft palate is lowered to
allow an audible escape of air through both the nose and the mouth.
[m] : Bilabial nasal. It occurs in word initial, medial and final position, as in;
muzo [muzo] ‘spin’
énbút [émbút] ‘back’
èvom [èvͻm] ‘nose’
[ɱ] : Labio-dental nasal. It occurs in word initial and medial position, as in;
nfot [ɱfͻt] ‘belly’
46
fὸnfόtinto [fὸɱfͻtinto] ‘nail’
[n] : Alveolar nasal. It occurs in word initial, medial and final position, as in;
nto [ntͻ] ‘neck’
ánèt [ánèt] ‘navel’
èbrin [èbrin] ‘fish’
[ŋ] : Velar nasal. It occurs in word initial, medial and final position, as in;
nkpá [ŋpá] ‘leaf’
ángà [áŋà] ‘firewood’
éséng [éséŋ] ‘swell’
fúnk [fúŋ] ‘old’
[ɲ] : Labio-velar nasal. It occurs in word initial and word final position, as
in;
nyíná [ɲíná] ‘call’
ényárá [éɲárá] ‘laugh’
47
Tap – This is used to refer to any sound produce by the rapid tapping of one
organ of articulation against another.
[r] : Alveolar tap. It occurs in word medial position, as in;
èbùrù [èbùrù] ‘strong’
kúrí [kúrí] ‘dry’
Lateral - This sound is produced when the central portion of the airstream is
blocked in a way to prevent the air stream from flowing outward through the
centre of the mouth.
[l] : Alveolar lateral. It occurs in word initial and medial position, as in;
lùkpá [lùkpá] ‘kneel’
álúm [álúm] ‘farm’
Approximant – These sounds are produced based on the articulations
involved in which one articulator approaches another, but the degree of
narrowing involve does not produce audible friction.
48
[j] : Palatal approximant. It occurs in word initial, medial and final position,
as in;
yen [jɛn] ‘carry’
éyàn [éjàn] ‘fly’
íyìná [íjìná] ‘learn’
[w] : Labio- velar approximant. It occurs in word medial position, as in;
éyíwá [éyíwá] ‘reply’
àwán [àwán] ‘salt’
Labio-
Plosive
Fricative
Labio-
Bilabial dental
alveolar Palatal
velar
p
t
k
b
f
d
z ∫
v s
49
ᴣ
Glottal
velar
g Kp gb
ɣ
h
ʧ
Affricate
Nasal
m
ɱ
ʤ
ŋ
n
Tap
r
Lateral
l
Approximant
j
ɲ
w
Fig. 4 Yeskwa’s Consonant Chart
2.1.3 Suprasegmental Feature in Yeskwa Language
Suprasegmental means the advance stage above segments, that is,
vowel and consonants. It includes; tone, pitch, length and stress. Tone is
attested in most African languages, this denotes Yeskwa language as a tonal
language.
2.1.3.1
Tonal Inventory
50
Welmers (1973:80) asserted that a situation where “pitch phonemes
and segmental phonemes enter into some composition of at least one
morpheme” is called tone. Tone is of two types;
a) register tone: high [/], mid [-] and low [\].
b) contour tone: rising tone [˅], and falling tone [˄].
Yeskwa language is a tonal language, having the three basic tones and a
rising tone. Examples are;
High: [/]
[όvame]
‘well’
[émé]
‘years’
[atόk]
‘ashes’
[okόm]
‘corpse’
Low: [\]
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[ὸvwèk]
‘wild yam’
[iŋwὸ]
‘castrated goat’
[èdgèru]
‘laziness’
[ᴣàki]
‘donkey’
[esusuk]
‘mushroom’
Mid [-]:
[vwap]
‘bite small piece’
[vwop]
‘bite off’
[mwaŋ]
‘sharpen’
[mwot]
‘pour carefully’
[andgai]
‘mud’
Rising tone [\/]: this tends to appear on short vowels;
[ŋwǎfὸ]
‘toad’
[găn]
‘tear’
52
2.2.
[jěn]
‘carry’
[ěvome]
‘well’
[égjăε]
‘thatch’
Syllable Structure of Yeskwa Language
Syllable is the smallest piece of word that can be carried out with a
single breath. A syllable represents a level of organization of the speech of a
particular language (because it varies in each language’s syllable structure).
A syllable must have a vowel or syllabic glides or syllabic nasals that will
serve as the syllable peak, also consonant can start a syllable which is the
common type, having this structure CV meaning consonant and vowel. The
basic components of a syllable are the onset (a consonant or more), nucleus
or peak which is a vowel(s), syllabic glide or syllabic nasal and the coda (the
consonant following the vowel) as the third components. In Yeskwa
language we have vowels and the syllabic nasals serving as the nucleus.
syllable
53
onset
consonant(s)
nucleus
coda
vowel
consonant(s)
fig. 5: Syllable Chart.
There are open syllable and closed syllable as the types of syllable;
1.
Open syllable: This type ends with a vowel, that is, it has an onset
and nucleus without a coda.
2.
Close syllable: This means the syllable ends with a consonant that is
having the onset, nucleus and the coda.
Yeskwa language ranges from one syllable to multi-syllabic words.
2.2.1 Basic Structures of the Syllables in Yeskwa Language
Yeskwa language attests monosyllabic, disyllabic, and polysyllabic
structures.
Monosyllabic Words: These are words with one syllable.
Examples;
54
Ma
[ma]: CV : ‘I’
Mu
[mu]: CV : ‘you’
Dó
[dó]: CV : ‘burn’
Disyllabic Words: These are words with two syllables.
Examples;
Ézé
[é / zέ]: V CV : ‘stand’
Wá:tá [wá: / tá] : VC VC : ‘descend’
Járá [dᴣá / rá] : CV CV : ‘walk’
Ókóm [ó / kóm] : V CVC : ‘corpse’
Polysyllabic Words: These are words with more than two syllables.
Examples:
Onkpédè
[õ / kpé / dè]: V CV CV : ‘road’
ónᴣámε
[ṍ / ᴣá / mὲ]: V CV CV : ‘in- law’
fújèra
[fú / dᴣè / ra]: CV CV CV : ‘tortoise’
55
àbéméjiringba
[à / bé / mé / ji / rĩ / gba] : V CV CV CV CV CV : ‘mud’
In Yeskwa language, there are syllabic nasals. For example;
ǹton
[ǹ / tͻn]: C CVC: ‘cold’
ǹkúchi
[ǹ / kú / ʧi]: C CV CV: ‘small’
élím̀bá
[ɛ́ / lí / m̀ / bá]: V CV C CV: ‘word’
CHAPTER THREE
ASPECTS OF THE MORPHOLOGY OF YESKWA
56
3.0.
Introduction
In this chapter, our focus is morphology in brief, it’s starting point
with its definition from various scholars. Including morpheme the nucleus of
morphology with examples from diverse languages, majorly in Yeskwa
language, also morpheme types and language typology all in Yeskwa
language.
3.1
MORPHOLOGY OF YESKWA
The term morphology was coined by Schleicher in 1857 in the
linguistic context. The term morphology is of Greek origin, ‘morph-’ means
shape and form, this portrays morphology to be the study of form(s).
“In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and
description of the structure of morpheme and other unit of meaning in a
language like words, affixes and part of speech…” Aronoff and Fudeman
(2005) states “morphology to refer to the mental system involved in word
formation or to the branch of linguistic that deals with words, their internal
structure and how they are formed.
57
In linguistics, the system of identifying, analyzing and describing
forms of word, also the study of word’s shapes, forms and structure is
known as morphology.
“Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies patterns of word
formation within and across language and attempts to formulate rules that
model the knowledge of the speakers of those languages”.
According to Matthew (2002:3), “morphology is simply a term for
that branch of linguistics is concerned with the forms of words in different
uses”. Morphology is a branch of grammar that focuses on the study of the
internal structure of words and of the rules governing the formation of new
words in languages. Palmer (1976:99) sees morphology as a subdivision
under grammar and syntax as the other subdivision of grammar. Morphology
is essentially the grammar of sentence and is concerned with the way
sentences are formed…” Bloomfield, the American structuralists, with the
other linguist share the same school of thought with Palmer ‘that grammar
has two main parts: morphology and syntax while morphology is concerned
with the structure of words, that is, the study of the rules which governs the
58
formation of words in any language. Yule (2007:75) describes morphology
as the term which literally means ‘the study of forms’ was originally used in
biology, but since the middle of the nineteenth (19 th ) century ,has also been
used to describe that type of investigation which analyzes all those basic
‘elements’ which are used in a language. Morphology is the branch of
linguistics that concerns the knowledge of sound structure in relation to the
knowledge of sentence structure. Also it is a section to know before one can
be called a speaker of a language. Morpheme is the basic unit of
grammatical form in the linguistics, also a minimal unit of meaning.
Fromkin et al (2007:77) describe morphology as the “study of internal
structures of words, and are of the rules by which words are formed is
morphology”.
The word morphology is made up of two morphemes, morph + ology;
the suffix ‘-ology’ means ‘science of’ or ‘branch of knowledge concerning’,
thus the meaning of morphology is the “science of word forms”.
3.1.1 Morphemes in Yeskwa Language
59
“In morpheme-based morphology, a morpheme is the smallest
linguistic unit that has semantic meaning. In spoken language, morphemes
are composed of phonemes (the smallest linguistically distinctive units of
sound) and in written language morphemes are composed of graphemes (the
smallest units of written language).
“The linguistic term for the most elemental unit of grammatical form
is morpheme”.
“A morpheme – the minimal linguistic unit – is thus an arbitrary union
of a sound and a meaning that cannot be further analyzed.”
Morpheme as opined by Nordiques (cited in Wikipedia), “are units of
language that cannot be broken down into further meaning: to simplify, they
are words”
It is the minimal, meaningful unit of grammatical analysis. It is the
fundamental tool of morphological analysis. In Crystal (1991:193), “a
morpheme is the smallest bit of language which has a meaning – and
60
moreover the meaning is different from (contrast with) the meaning of all
the other morphemes in the language .
A morpheme is a minimal recurrent form that carries meaning. This
means that a morpheme can be divided in smaller meaningful pieces. Crystal
(1987) defines morphemes as “the minimal distinctive unit of grammar and
the central concern of morphology”.
According to Tomori (1977: 25) “morpheme is the smallest unit of
speech that has semantics or grammatical meaning”.
It is important to note that “sound units combine to form morphemes,
morphemes combine to form words, and words combine to form larger
units- phrases and sentence :- morphemes are the minimal linguistic signs in
all languages and many languages have prefixes and suffixes.” Like in
English it can be any but in Yeskwa language majorly it is prefix.
Morpheme can be subdivided as: free morpheme and bound morpheme.
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3.1.2 Morpheme Types
“The morphemes therefore arose as an alternative to the term “word”
since linguists felt that using the word as primary unit for analyzing structure
was difficult when it came to comparing languages”.
Morpheme can be broadly divided into free and bound morpheme.
Morphology
Morpheme
Free morpheme
Functional
Lexical
Bound morpheme
Inflectional
Fig.6 Morphology building blocks.
62
Derivational
3.1.2.1
Free Morphemes in Yeskwa Language
‘Free morpheme is so called because it can occur in isolation and
cannot be divided into smaller meaningful unit, examples from English
language are ‘house’, ‘dog’, and ‘quick’ they are called free morpheme
because they carry the basic meaning of the word. According to McGregor
(2009:60) ‘free morphemes are morphemes with the potential for
independence occurrence’.
In addition to the definitions “Free morpheme are those which can
stand alone as a words of a language”. Free morpheme can also be regarded
as unbound morpheme, free- standing morpheme. All this can be derived
from the fact that “Free morpheme can constitute words by themselves.”
Free morphemes are morphemes that “occur syntactically freely or
independently”. This means that free morpheme can stand alone, and make
meaning. Free morphemes are capable of occurring in isolation without any
help from any other morpheme. This type of morpheme can be called
‘word’. Free morphemes can be considered as stem, when bound morpheme
is added to it.
63
Following the above division of morpheme, free morpheme can be
described using two parameters they are; functional and lexical morphemes.
3.1.2.1.1
Functional Morphemes in Yeskwa Language.
Functional morpheme is a category under free morphemes that
comprise comparative conjunctions, qualifier, demonstrative, prepositional,
articles, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, and interjections using the part of speech.
This group belongs to the closed class of words which is also not productive
“because we almost never add new morpheme to the language” (Yule
2007:76). Another technical term for functional morpheme is grammatical
morphemes.
Examples of morpheme in Yeskwa language;
Demonstratives that/those (distal)
1) [nkọ]
‘that’
[anjọ] ‘those’
Demonstrative this/those;
2) [nke] ‘this’
[anje] ‘these’
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3) amá [amá] ‘but’ [conjunction]
4) [ὲmà] ‘I’
3.1.2.1.2
Lexical Morphemes in Yeskwa Language
This kind of morpheme is a group of ordinary nouns, adjectives and
verbs which is the major part of speech classes. This group is the carrier of
meaning in words. Lexical morphemes have referents in the real world even
if it is abstract concepts. This group of morphemes description “can add new
lexical morphemes to the language rather easily compared to functional
morpheme” this makes it to be known as an ‘open’ class of words because
through a word unlimited new words can be created. Noun class in Yeskwa
language can create new words when the plural marker prefix ‘a’ is added to
it in common cases and ‘e’ in rare cases , for the verbs, the continuous
suffix marker ‘gya’ is added to create new words. Adjectives in Yeskwa
follow the noun and regularly show some form of elision and
morphophonemic.
Examples of verb class:
65
tore + ga ‘cooking’ means to prepare, anything that can be consume
more edible through heat.
‘Cook’
pere + gya ‘killing’ means to take out life from living being or animal.
‘kill’
fua + gya ‘drinking’ means to swallow any edible liquid.
‘drink’
evwey + ga ‘fighting’ means act against someone or something with
physical violence.
‘fight'
nyina + gya ‘learning’ means to acquire knowledge.
‘learn’
enyara + gya ‘laughing’ means to make sounds with the voice in
showing happiness.
66
‘laugh’
eyang + ya
‘flying’ means to go through the air on wings.
‘fly’
Examples of lexical morphemes in Yeskwa’s noun group:
a
+ ogaje = agaje
(pl)
a
‘friend’
‘friends’
+ gbàgbà = agbagba
(pl)
‘duck’
‘ducks’
The above examples show how lexical morphemes in Yeskwa language are
open that is productive.
3.1.2.2
Bound Morpheme in Yeskwa Language
Bound morpheme as opined by Yusuf (ed.) 1992 ‘this type of
morpheme does not occur in isolation but can only be recognize when they
are joined to other morphemes.’ To McGregor (2009:60) ‘bound morphemes
require the presence of another morpheme to make up a word; they cannot
67
occur independently’. This is a type of morpheme that appears as a proper
subpart of a word.
Bound morphemes are morphological unit with definite meanings but
without independent existence. They are only recognized when they are
attached to other, that is, they cannot make up a word without being added to
another morpheme.
The subdivisions for this division of morpheme are; inflectional
morphemes and derivational morpheme. In the case of this study more
emphasis will be laid on inflectional morpheme because the derivational
morpheme is not present in Yeskwa language.
3.1.2.2.1
Inflectional Morpheme
Aronoff and Fudeman (2005:45) opines that “inflection involves the
formation of grammatical forms –past, present, feminine, neuter, and so on
of a single lexeme. Affixes are the brain behind inflection.
Inflecting the morphemes does not necessarily change the class of the
word or part of speech but expanciate more and elaborate more on the
68
meaning of a particular word. The main fact to know about bound
morpheme which also reflects in the sub group is that those morphemes
cannot make meaning on their own but when added to another word inflects
the grammatical form such as the tense, singular, plural, gender and many
more. In English language inflectional morpheme are suffixes. The position
of inflectional morpheme (affix) is language specific, it depends on the
pattern and style, for example in English language, inflectional affixes are
suffixes. The common position of inflectional affixes in Yeskwa language
are prefixes and they mostly show distinction between singular morphemes
and plural morphemes while in rare cases they appear in suffixes to show
tense.
Examples of inflectional morphemes in Yeskwa language:
a + onpe = anpe ‘mats’
a
+ ogek = agek ‘hawks’
a
+ onzo = anzo ‘needles’
e
+ oje = eje
‘forests’
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a
+ ovep = avep ‘ theives’
The underlined above are the inflectional morphemes in Yeskwa language
showing plurality. The effect of the inflectional morphemes following the
examples above is the deletion of the initial vowel [o].
Aronoff and Fudeman (2005) “the application or non-application of
inflectional morphology generally depends on the synthetic context”.
3.1.2.2.2
Derivational Morpheme
Derivational means to produce or create one form from another. Using
this description derivational morpheme is the creation and production of one
lexeme from another lexeme. The addition of derivational morphemes to a
word changes the class of the word. For example, it can change from the
ranges of noun to noun, verb to verb, adjective to adjective, verb to noun,
noun to verb, noun to adjective, adjective to adverb.
According to Aronoff and Fudeman (2005) “derivation generally
result in a change in lexical meaning or the lexical category of a particular
word”
70
This category of bound morpheme in Yeskwa Language is verb to
verb and noun to noun which changes its lexical meaning in nouns it
changes for singular to plural forms and for the verbs it changes its tense.
Examples of noun to noun;
ofub [sg] → a + ofub = afub [pl]
‘bone’
‘bones’
obakpe [sg] → a+ obakpe = abakpe [pl]
‘guest’
‘guests’
nama [sg] → = a + nama = anama [pl]
‘sister’
‘sisters’
When the prefix [a-] attached to a vowel-initial word or morpheme the
vowel of the free morpheme or word is deleted especially if they are two
different vowels.
Examples of verb to verb;
tore → tore + ga = torega
71
‘cook’
‘cooking’
pere → pere + gya = peregya
‘kill’
‘killing’
fua → fua + gya = fuagya
‘drink’
3.2
drinking
Allomorphs in Yeskwa Language
Allomorphs can also be referred to as morphemes alternates.
“Sometimes morphemes appear in different forms according to the context
in which they occur. When a morpheme is represented by the same morph,
but by different morph in different environments, these different alternative
representations of the morpheme are the called allomorphs.”
Agbedo (2003:83) says “a particular morpheme is not represented
everywhere by the same morph but by different morph in different
environments. These alternative representation of a morpheme are called
ALLOPHONES.
72
Ndimele (1999:3) sees morpheme as “…a minimum independent
linguistic unit having an identifiable meaning and grammatical function with
a fairly consistent phonological shape.”
Agbedo (2003:82) in his definition says that “these smaller units
which cannot further be broken into meaningful units are what we refer to as
morpheme.”
Lyon’s (1968:181) definition as “…minimal units of grammatical
analysis-the units of “lowest” rank out of which wards, the units of next
‘highest’ rank are composed .It can also be said of morpheme to be “the
smallest meaningful grammatical units that constitute the building blocks of
words.”
The general definition for allomorph in linguistics is “the variant
forms of a morpheme”. Morphemes do not occur frequently in different
phonological forms which is called allomorphs. According to Hudson
(2008:58) “the different form of morpheme are its allomorph”. As we have
in phonology-phones from phonemes, phonemes from allophones also in
73
morphology-morphs from morphemes and morphemes are grouped into
allomorphs of a morpheme. In English we have /ә/~/ӕn/ (article)
/iz/~/s/~/z/
(plural
marker)
/t/~/d/ (post tense marker).
As the most occurred allomorph. In Yeskwa language there are
limited allomorphs in the language. For example the continuous marker
[tense] / gá/ ~ /gà/ ~ /gya/ and the plural marker /a/ ~ /e/.
torega
‘cooking’
peregya
‘killing’
goyga
‘buying’
The underlined above are the allomorphs having ‘gya’ as the basic
morpheme and ‘ga’ and ‘ga’ as the variants of the basic morphemes in
Yeskwa language.
Singular
plural
ònùm ‘day’
ènùm ‘days’
74
óvet ‘fire’
èvèt ‘fires’
ónét ‘person’
ánét ‘people’
ósák ‘man’
asak ‘men’
óché ‘woman’
ache ‘women’
The underlined above are the plural markers present in the words
above having /a/ as the basic and /e/, /a/ as its variants in Yeskwa language.
3.3
Morphology of Word Class in Yeskwa Language
Word classes are traditionally named lexical categories or parts of
speech. They are aspect of morphology that the structural realizing sentence
elements are made up of unit which can be called parts of speech. Word
class is divided into; open and closed classes. The open word class consists
of the nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. While the closed word class
includes pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections and determiners.
75
3.3.1 Nouns
According to Awobuluyi (1992:27), noun is “any word functioning as
the subject and object in a sentence”. Nouns are also used to identify a
person, animal, place or thing. In Yeskwa language, we have proper nouns,
concrete or abstract nouns, countable or uncountable nouns and common
nouns as types of noun.
Proper Nouns: They are specific to their referent, that is, the names of
people, countries and subjects, they are started with capital letters.
Examples;
Ayeme [ajeme] ‘name of a person’
Yeskwa [jeskwa] ‘a language’
Concrete Nouns: They are substantial things that could be touched and
seen. Examples are;
ébín [ébín] ‘fish’
òzòp [ͻzͻp] ‘iron’
76
όbόk [όbόk] ‘hand’
Abstracts Nouns: They are nouns that are intangible but can be felt.
Examples;
úyè [ úyɛ] ‘shadow’
èwà [ɛwà] ‘shadow’
èmì [ὲmì] ‘hunger’
Countable Nouns: They are nouns that can be counted and are distinct by
numbers. Examples;
όvép [όvɛp] ‘theif’
όngà [όngà] ‘tree’
édè [édɛ] ‘knife’
Uncountable Nouns: These are nouns that cannot be counted. Examples;
àmè [àmè] ‘water’
abém [abém] ‘sand’
77
όvèt [όvɛt] ‘fire’
Common Nouns: These are names that are given to things, animals and
people of a kind. Examples;
àmfíbí [àmfíbí] ‘money’
ebyé [ebúɛ] ‘animal’
ènùnù [ènùnù] ‘bird’
3.3.2 Pronouns
Pronouns are used instead or to substitutes a noun. In Yeskwa
language, we have subjective, objective pronouns, possessive pronouns and
interrogative pronouns.
78
Independent
Subject
Object
Possessive
1st ‘I’
ὲmà
ὲmà
Mà
nkɛma
2nd ‘You’
ὲmù
ὲmù
Mù
nkɛmu
3rd
ὲnì
ὲnì
Nì
nkɛni
1st ‘We’
έmbi
έmbi
Mbí
nkɛmbi
2nd ‘You’
έmí
έmí
Mí
nkɛmi
έmbέ
έmbέ
mbέ
nkɛbɛ
Singular
‘He/she/it’
Plural
3rd
‘They’
Fig.7 Yeskwa’s personal pronoun.
Interrogative Pronouns: Interrogative pronouns are identical with whquestion tag used for case distinctions. Examples;
79
enshe? [ɛʃɛ]
What?
nyèé? [njὲέ]
Who?
nkan? [ŋkaŋ]
When?
nshe?
Why?
[ nʃɛ]
nane? [nane]
How?
insha? [iʃa]
Which?
eme?
Where?
[ɛmὲ]
Demonstrative Pronouns: This class has the determiner and nominal
function. Yeskwa language have both the singular and plural forms, they
also show distance. Examples;
nke [nke] ‘this’(sg)
anye [anje] ‘these’ (pl)
nko [nkͻ] ‘that’ (sg)
anyo [anjͻ] ‘those’ (pl)
80
3.3.3 Verbs
Verbs describes the action in the sentence, an event, make statement
complete and expresses a state or condition. Verbs are the meaning bearer in
a sentence by linking the action between the subject and object. Verbs have
transitive and intransitive as types.
Transitive Verbs: Verbs are transitive when they are able to transfer the
action to the object. Examples;
mipít [mipít] ‘beat’
fam [fam] ‘close’
kpá [kpá] ‘make’
Intransitive Verbs: Verbs are intransitive when they do not have an object
but having a subject. Examples;
épét [épέt] ‘kill’
éyíwá [éjíwá] ‘reply’
81
vόm [vͻm] ‘weep’
3.3.4 Adjectives
An adjective is a word that qualifies and modifies a noun or a
pronoun. According to Everyman’s Encyclopedia (1978:76) an adjective is
“is a part of speech used with a noun or substance, to express its quality or
attributes.” Examples;
myézin [mjézin] ‘beautiful’
nkúfa [ŋkúfa] ‘new’
zèzè [zèzè] ‘good’
3.3.5 Adverbs
Adverbs are words that modify verbs. Examples;
úzèzè [úzèzè] ‘very well’
eférém [eférém] ‘easily’
òleko [ͻlekͻ] ‘yesterday’
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3.3.6 Prepositions
Prepositions are introducers, and they show the relationship between
two notional words which are nouns or preposition. Examples;
mé [mé] ‘on’
[ékpaŋi] ‘behind’
dé [dé] ‘out’
3.3.7 Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words or groups of words that joins words or group
of words together, that means they are linking words. Examples;
katusu [katusu] ‘and’
kό [kό] ‘or’
amá [amá] ‘but’
83
3.3.8 Interjections
Interjections are words that are used to express sudden and strong
emotions and they end with an exclamation mark [!]. Examples;
yáme! [jámɛ] ‘yeh!’
gόne! [gͻne] ‘waoh!’
tò! [tò] ‘ah!’
3.4
Morphological Language Typology in Yeskwa Language.
The classification of languages according to different criteria is
known as morphological typology. This systemic classification of language
started in the 19th by the comparative linguistics, emphasis was on the
features of the word using structure method.
Languages of the world have been systematically grouped into
families based on apparent likeness displayed by those languages following
two criteria; genetic and historical relatedness shared by a number of
84
languages. In which case we claim such languages to have their proto form
or pro language as their ancestor from where they are all derived.
Classification of languages into groups and subgroups following may
not follow historic and genetic relatedness, i.e. the languages sharing some
structural features such as phonological, morphological, syntactic and
semantic features that are common to those languages. This type of
classification is known as typological classification.
This study work will focus on the relatedness of languages in term of
morphological
feature,
hence
morphological
classification.
morphological typology of language have been identified as;
1)
Isolated or Analytical
2)
Agglutinating and
3)
Inflectional or Fusional.
85
Three
3.4.1 Isolating Languages.
Languages in this group show grammatical relationship through the
use of word order; these languages are invariable i.e. they are without
morphological change.
Also, a peculiar thing about this class is that words and morphemes
are identified and segmented easily i.e., a unit of meaning per word.
Chinese, some Nigerian language like Ebira, Hausa, Igbo Yoruba, Yeskwa,
and many more are good examples of isolating language. Example in
Yeskwa language:
(1)
[Má njí
I
óne
tɔ
sa
goi
Dgafo]
know person the that buy car
‘I know the person that bought the car’
Segmentation into morphemes
[má]- ‘I’
-[njí]- ‘know’
86
-[όne]- ‘person’
-[tͻ]- ‘the’
-[sa]- ‘that’
-[goi]- ‘buy’
-[dgafor]- ‘car’
(2)
[Aminat gjà ákásí]
Aminat eat rice
‘Aminat ate rice’
Morpheme segmentation:
[aminat]- ‘aminat’
-[gjà]- ‘eat’
-[ákásí]- ‘rice’
(3)
[Mu dƷé
ŋkán]?
87
You go when
‘when did you go?’
Segmentation of morpheme;
[mu]- ‘you’
-[ dƷé]- ‘go’
-[ŋkán]- ‘when’
(4)
Mu ʧèré εmὲ?
You live where
‘Where did you live?
Segmentation of morphemes;
[mu]- ‘you’
-[ʧèré]- ‘live’
-[εmὲ]- ‘where’
88
CHAPTER FOUR
MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN YESKWA LANGUAGE
4.0
Introduction
In this chapter, we will examine the morphological processes in
Yeskwa language. Morphological process is a way of creating new lexical
forms in language. Morphological processes are universal word formation
processes that are in forming new words in languages. It deals with the
manner in which words are created afresh from existing words.
In Yeskwa language words formation processes are important in
language because “they are productive, constantly in operation to expand
and enrich the vocabulary of a given language as new meanings enrich the
vocabulary of a given language in the light of the continuous social,
economic and technical changes taking place in the life of a contemporary
man” (Agbedo 2003:87). “Word formation is the process where two
complete words are combined.” In Yeskwa language, the morphological
processes that are present are; Compounding, Reduplication, Affixation and
extension of meaning.
lxxxix
4.1
Compounding
According to McGregor (2009:93) compounding is one of the ways of
using old forms to get new meaning when ‘two separate words are
sometimes joined together to form a single, a new word with a new meaning
of its own, a meaning of its own, a meaning that is not entirely predictable
from the component words’. ‘Compounding is a process of word formation
that involves combining complete word or as the case may be different word
forms that forms into a single compound form.’
In addition, McGregor (2009:93) explains that ‘when new words can
be formed from already existing words by a process is known as
compounding’ that is individual words are joined together to form a
compound word. In some cases, hyphen (-) are use to separate each words in
compounding. The individual words put together may and may not be from
the same class of words, it may be the combination of: noun + noun,
adjective + noun, preposition + noun, verb + noun, adjective + adjective,
noun + adjective, preposition + verb, etc. This procedure is language
specific. Examples in Yeskwa language are noun + adjective;
xc
Élangònùm ‘sunshine’
shine [adj] + sun [n]
wéma nyúnkpéí
‘older brother’
brother [n] + big [adj]
wéma nyínchí
‘younger brother’
brother [n] + small [adj]
náma nyínchí
‘younger sister’
sister [n] + small [adj]
ɛ̀nàk [n] ɛtara [adj]
ɛ̀nàyɛtara
‘white cow’
ɛ̀nàk [n] ɛbara [adj]
ɛ̀nàyɛbara
‘red cow’
ɛ̀nàk [n] ɛshara [adj] ɛ̀nàyɛshara ‘black cow’
ɛ̀dɔy [n]
εtara [adj]
ɛ̀dɔyεtara
xci
‘ white sheep’
4.2
Reduplication
Reduplication is the process of repetition of words, a form of
compounding. Reduplicative are form which are either partially or fully
copied from the root or added before or after the root. (Olaoye, 2007:77). In
Yeskwa language total reduplication is common compared to partial
reduplication. It is also defined as forming new words by repeating an
existing words either in full or in part. Yeskwa language usually makes a
good deal of the use of reduplication as a meaning of making new words.
For example;
Word
Reduplication
zoy ‘swim’
zoy zo
‘swim
a
swim’
nkam ‘harvest’
nkam nken kem
‘harvest
a
harvest’
Ʒẹt ‘dance’
Ʒẹt
Ʒẹ
Ʒẹt
‘dance
a
dance’
bom ‘sing’
bom
o
bom
a
song’.
zoy
‘sing
“Reduplication is often iconic. Replication of verbs generally conveys
and repeated events, or one that is habitual or characteristics of something,
as in the Yeskwa example cited above.
xcii
Reduplication of noun often indicates numerosity or multiplicity, or
intensity. Replication can occur in a complete or partial form in language.
4.3
Affixation
Affixation is the process of word formation by prefixation, infixation
and suffixation. It is a process by which bound morphemes are added before,
within or after root or free morphemes. Agbedo (2003:89) describes
affixation as “a word-building or word-formation process that involves the
addition of a phoneme or group of phonemes to a root or system to modify,
extend or change the meaning and/or function of the word”.
Affixation is divided into prefixation and suffixation. In Yeskwa
language both are used, but the former is more frequent to the later.
4.3.1 Prefixation
The linguistic item for this process is ‘prefix’. According to Hall
(2005:140) ‘prefixes are affixes that get attached before their host’. Gleason
(1961:59) opines that the prefixes are affixes which precede the root with
which they are closely associated. In Yeskwa language prefixes are attached
majorly to show plurality compared to other Nigerian languages. Examples:
xciii
Singular forms
Plural forms
ònùm [ònùm]‘day’
ènùm [ènùm] ‘days’
óvet [óvet] ‘fire’
èvèt [èvèt] ‘fires’
ónét [ónét] ‘person’
ánét [ánét] ‘people’
ósák [ósák] ‘man’
asak [asak] ‘men’
óché [óʧé] ‘woman’
ache [aʧe] ‘women’
The underlined segments are the plural markers that are showing the
prefixation.
Verbal nouns are also created by prefixing verb root with ‘ẹ’.
gya [gja]
‘to eat’
ẹgya [ẹgja] ‘eating’
Ʒet [Ʒet]
‘to dance’
ẹƷẹt [ẹƷẹt] ‘dancing’
Prefix ‘ẹ’ is also used in Yeskwa language to differentiate between the
subject pronouns and object pronouns (personal pronouns). Example:
Subject
Object
èmà
‘I’ (1st sg)
mà
‘me’
èmù
‘You’ (2nd sg)
mù
‘you’
ènì
‘He/she/it’ (3rd sg)
nì
‘him/her/it’
èmbí
‘We’ (1st pl)
mbí
‘us’
xciv
émí
‘You’ (2nd pl)
mí
‘you’
émbé
‘They’ (3rd pl)
mbé
‘them’
4.3.2 Suffixation
‘A suffix is a morpheme which changes the word class of a base to
derive another word’. As argued by Agbedo (2003:92) “suffixation is a
morphological process that involves the attachment of an affix usually
referred to as suffix which is often a bound morpheme at the end of a root or
system…”
In Yeskwa language suffix ‘a’, ‘i’, or ‘ẹ’ is attached to subject future
pronoun to differentiate it from the personal pronouns (object). Example:
Pronoun (object)
Future pronoun (subject)
mà
‘me’
màá
‘I will’
mù
‘you’
mùú
‘you will’
nì
‘him/her/it’
nìí
‘he/she/it will’
mbì
‘us’
mbìí
‘we will’
mì
‘you’
mìí
‘you will’
mbè
‘them’
mbèé
‘they will’
xcv
4.3.3 Zero Affixation in Yeskwa Language
‘This is a type of affixation where affixes are not added and yet it is
understood. The morpheme is called zero morpheme.
Some singular nouns in Yeskwa language have an ‘a-’ prefix, but in
this case the plural marker is absent, suggesting that the singular plural
distinction has simply been merged. Examples;
Àda ‘Father (s)’
Àma ‘Mother(s)’
Akpo ‘Death(s)’
Àmfíbí ‘Money (ies)’
Àbe ‘Land(s) /country (ies)’
Some are differenciated with the use of tones distinction between the
singular forms and plural forms. Examples:
Mushroom
esusuk
esusuk
Seed
èkó
eko
Stone
èta
eta
Year
èmè
émé
Star
èzẹt
ẹzẹt
xcvi
Mountain
4.4
ègò
égò
Borrowing
Borrowing, it is a linguistics phenomenon whereby languages borrow
words and expression from another language(s) due to the level of
interaction between both languages. Yule (2007:65) sees borrowing as the
“taking over of words from other languages.” Over the years, Yeskwa
language takes over words from Hausa language, because it is the regional
language of the northern part of Nigeria. For example:
Hausa
Yeskwa
álìbísà [álìbísà]
álìbísà [álìbísà]
‘onions’
raga [raga]
àlàga [àlàga]
‘fish- net’
lὸgὸ [lὸgὸ]
lόgὸ [lόgὸ]
‘cassava’
màkàní [màkàní]
màkàní [màkàní] ‘new cocoyam’
xcvii
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, OBSERVATION, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0
Introduction
This chapter will focus on the summary, observation, conclusion and
recommendations of the whole work.
5.1
Summary
This study has concentrated on the aspect of the morphology of
Yeskwa language spoken in Karu local government area in Nasarawa state
in Nigeria. It discussed the historical background of the language (Yeskwa)
with the speakers, Yeskwa language is having Panda, Bede, Gitata and
Tattara as it variants. The geographical location where Yeskwa language is
spoken in Nigeria is in the northern region of the country, the map for
clearer description of the base of the language was included for the location.
The genetic classification that is, the linguistic way of tracing the origin of a
language. Other significant information about Yeskwa language for instance
the way the people make use of their language in their social life and
xcviii
activities like festivals ,administration, religion and other socio-cultural way
of life of the Yeskwa people were mentioned. In addition is the data
collection, the analysis of the data from Yeskwa language.
In chapters two through four, Yeskwa language was analysed with the
view of showing the sound inventory, morphological process, language
typology, morpheme and morpheme types, morphological processes and
more momentous information about Yeskwa language to make it more
explicit in the morphological aspects of linguistics field. The research study
has proofed Yeskwa to be extravagantly rich in morphology in the way of
combining morpheme to another morpheme to form a meaningful word, like
dgap ‘hunt’ = ogap ‘hunter’.
In chapter five, the summary of all the work, observation and
recommendation to other scholars in this field to rise to the aid of Yeskwa
language to work on other aspects of this language is explained in this work.
xcix
5.2
Observation
In the course of my research in Yeskwa language, I observe that this
language manifest meaning extension, meaning a situation when a word
meaning can refer to many items at once. This does not involve in changing
word forms. McGregor (2009:94) defines meaning extension as ‘the process
of extending the meaning of an existing word, broadening it to embrace new
senses.’ ‘Meaning extension is a common manner of creating new words,
because the meaning associated with old form is a new one, and not fully
predicted from the old sense.’ For example;
1) [ónùm] = ‘day’/ ‘sun’
2) [gja] = ‘-ing’/ ‘eat’
3) [eʧoró] = ‘heavy’/ ‘strong’
4) [aʧéí] = ‘fat’/ ‘oil’
5) [varu] = ‘count’/ ‘read’
6) [fọro] = ‘cough’/ ‘scratch’
c
7) [àmfíbí] = ‘money’/ ‘iron’
8) [òtétè] = ‘ancestor’/ ‘lord’
9) [ɔvɔ] = ‘Porridge’/ ‘widower’
10) [ọvẹp] = ‘armpit’/ ‘thief’
11) [nkara] = ‘laugh’/ ‘gather’
5.3
Conclusion
In conclusion, with the help of the theoretical frame morpheme based
morphology, Yeskwa language has been used to establish the fact of affluent
attributes in the morphological aspect of scientific approach of studying
languages. This has been shown in the examples given in this study from
Yeskwa language to support the theoretical facts in the morphological topics
and sub-topics scrutinized in each chapter of this research work.
5.4
Recommendation
I recommend that linguists should research into more indigenous
languages especially in Nigeria. Yeskwa language is very rich in all
ci
linguistics aspects, I propose that future researchers should study the
language by examining and analyzing it in the aspect of sociolinguistics and
applied linguistics.
cii
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Tomori, S.H.O. (1977). “The Morphology and Syntax Of Present – Day
English: An Introduction”. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd
Weisler, S. et al “Theory of language”. MIT Press, 1999.
Welmers, W. (1973) “African Language Structures.” Los Angeles and
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Yule, G. (2007) (7th printing) “The Study of Languages”. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Yusuf, O. (ed.) (1992) “Introduction to Linguistics”. Ilorin: University of
Ilorin Press.
http: // www.ethnologue.
http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm
http://www.wikipedia. free encyclopedia
http://www.unilorin.edu.ng./pub
cvii
APPENDIX [Ibadan 400 word list]
1. head
ogbése [ogbése]
2. hair
èbúwát [ébwάt]
3. eye
èkόsu [èkɔsu]
4. ear
όlatό [όlatό]
5. nose
èvόm [èvόm]
6. mouth
ámù [ámù]
7. teeth
ángyyín [áŋjí]
8. tongue
álìnba [álìmbá]
9. jaw
ádẹt [ádẹt]
10.chin
ǹdèrèmù [ǹdέrέmù]
11.beard
όzέt [όzέt ]
12.neck
ntó [ntό]
13.breast(female)
abẹ [ábέ]
14.heart
ejút [eʤút]
15.belly
nfót [ɱfόt]
cviii
16.stomach
áhná [áná]
17.navel
ánèt [ánèt]
18.back
ènbút [èmbút]
19.arm
úvép [úvép]
20.hand
óbók [όbόk]
21.nail (finger or toe)
fònfóti nto [fᴐɱ fᴐtínto]
22.buttocks
abúrúchìbi [abúríʧìbi]
23.penis
édém [édém]
24.vagina
efí [efí]
25.thigh
ókók [ókók]
26.leg
ávò [ávò]
27.knee
όlú [ólú]
28.body
égàb [égàb]
29.skin
όvùt [όvùt]
30.bone
ófùb [όfùb]
31.blood
ají [aʤí]
32.saliva
ánshó [âʃό]
33.urine
ànʒyì [âʒì]
cix
34.feaces
àbì [àbì]
35.food
ǹkígya [ŋkígya]
36.water
àmè [àmε]
37.soup
όzáb [όzáb]
38.meat
èbyé [èbyε]
39.fat
achéí [aʧéí]
40.fish
ébín [ébí]
41.oil
ache [aʧé]
42.salt
awán [awâŋ]
43.wine\beer
àngáfuwa [âŋgàfwa]
44.palm wine
obám [ᴐbám]
45.yam
kétékpé [kétékpé]
46.cassava
lόgὸ [lόgὸ]
47.guinea corn
ávúw [ávú]
48.millet
àngúshi [âŋgúʃí]
49.maize
όvuzá [όvuzá]
50.beans
énép [énép]
51.papper
ὸyàyà [ὸjàjà]
cx
52.okra
ánvùàgo [âvwàgo]
53.plantain
àyàbáysnkpa [àjàbájâkpa]
54.banana
àyàbà [àjàbà]
55.orange
όkό [όkό]
56.groundnut
ὸgbègbe [ὸgbègbe]
57.kolanut
ὸgόrὸ [ὸgόrὸ]
58.tobacco
ὸtábà [àtábà]
59.cotton
ὸlúrú [ὸlúrú]
60.oil palm
àchéìgyà [àʧéìgya]
61.seed
ékό [ékό]
62.grass
όbé [óbé]
63.tree
óngà [õŋgà]
64.leaf
ńkpá [ńkpá]
65.bark(of tree)
úvúngà [ńvúygà]
66.that
égyàé [égyàε]
67.thorn
ὸdὸdὸ [édᴐdᴐ]
68.stick
óńtítí [õtítí]
69.firewood
ángà [áŋgà]
cxi
70.charcoal
ónʒyὸnʒyὸ [όʒᴐʒᴐ]
71.fire
óvèt [óvεt]
72.smoke
óʒyὸ [óʒὸ]
73.ashes
atók [atᴐk]
74.water pot
èngbáamé [égbámε]
75.cooking
éfút [éfút]
76.calabash
ńkόm [ŋkóm]
77.grinding stone
όnàh [ónà]
78.mortar
όchú [όʧú]
79.knife
édè [édε]
80.hoe
όzàt [όzàt]
81.axe
ὸjù [ὸdʒù]
82.machete
adá[adá]
83.spear(war)
ènkpèt [èkpεt]
84.bow(weapon)
otó [otó]
85.snow
èvùrù [èvùrù]
86.iron(metal)
ózὸp [ózᴐp]
87.mat
ὸnpè [õmpε]
cxii
88.basket
ὸńʒyàgo [õʒàgo]
89.bag
obó [obᴐ]
90.rope
ózá [ózá]
91.needle
onzό [õzᴐ]
92.thread
ὸlúrùsonaga [ὸlúrùsonaga]
93.cloth(material)
ágehèshán [ágehèʃã]
94.rope/gown/smoke(man’s)
όzá [όzá]
95. hat(cap)
hùlá [hùlá]
96.Shoe
àntàkàmí [ãtàkàmí]
97.Money
ànfíbí [ãmfíbí]
98.Door(way)
ámúdènchù [ámúdèʧù]
99.Wall(of house)
èbángchù [èbáŋʧù]
100. Room
únchù [ũʧù]
101. House
ágyàh [ãŋà]
102. Compound
áyèréàgya [ájẽràŋa]
103. Town
áyìnréὸtep [ájírὸtep]
104. Village
ànjàn [ãʤà]
105. Well
ẽvὸmè [ẽvὸmε]
cxiii
106. rubbish heap
fúndè [fùdε]
107. road
ὸnkpédè [ὸkpédè]
108. market
όdόp [όdόp]
109. farm
álúm [álúm]
110. bush
ǹbàng [mbàŋ]
111. river
όjè [όʤè]
112. sea
όjehngyùnkpá [όʤεŋjùkpεí]
113. boat(canoe)
jíńgíàmè [dӡírígàmε]
114. stone
etá [εtá]
115. mountain
ègὸ [ègὸ]
116. ground
abé [abé]
117. earth(soil)
èkátara [èkátara]
118. sand
abém [abém]
119. dust
ὸnjúm [ὸʤúm]
120. mud
àbémejìnengba[àbεmeʤìnẽgba]
121. wind
όgbák [όgbák]
122. rain
ènáy [ènái]
123. sunshine
élánaònùm [éláŋὸnùm]
cxiv
124. sun
όnùm [όnùm]
125. moon
ofé [ofε]
126. star
ézét [ézεt]
127. day
όnùm [όnùm]
128. night
όchúk [όʧúk]
129. dawn
àmùkpé [àmùkpé]
130. darkness
èvúk [èvúk]
131. sleep
alό [alᴐ]
132. work
étí [étí]
133. war
èwà [εwà]
134. fear
èyìn [εjì]
135. hunger
èmì [èmì]
136. thirst
vwόmè [vwόmε]
137. rain
ènáy [ènái]
138. rainy season
èdὸ [èdὸ]
139. dry season
enuwí [enwí]
140. song
όbόm [όbόm]
141. story
ὸnté [ὸtε]
cxv
142. word
élìnba [εlìmba]
143. lie(s)
èbùàp [èbwàp]
144. thing
égyà [égyà]
145. animal
ebyé [ebúε]
146. goat
èbόshára [èbόʃára]
147. he goat
ebusú [ebusú]
148. sheep
edόy [edόy]
149. cow (zebu)
ènàk [ènàk]
150. horse
ènyà [εjà]
151. donkey
eʒyankí [eʒakí]
152. dog
manbό [mambό]
153. cat
maté [maté]
154. rat
ekpí [ekpí]
155. chicken (domestic fowl)
ènù [ènù]
156. cock
éfόk [éfόk]
157. duck
gbagbà [gbagbá]
158. egg
όjéy [όʤéy]
159. wing
όfèt [όfεt]
cxvi
160. feather
únsát [usát]
161. horn
όntόm [όtόm]
162. tail
όshít [όʃít]
163. leopard
ègbè [ègbè]
164. crocodile
okputu [okputu]
165. elephant
ení [εní]
166. buffalo(bush cow)
ὸjì [ὸʤì]
167. monkey
ejúp [eʤúp]
168. tortoise
fújàra [fúʤàra]
169. snake
èvì [èvì]
170. lizard(common variety)
ègbúwétà [ègbwétà]
171. crab
gádánfὸy [gádáfᵂὸy]
172. toad(frog)
ǹwáfὸ [ŋwáfὸ]
173. snail
nfόt [nfόt]
174. house
onkpusújì [okpusúʤì]
175. bee
enwín [εwí]
176. mosquito
ébό [ébό]
177. mouse
ekόt [ekόt]
cxvii
178. bird
ènùnù [ènùnù]
179. vulture
ogburú [ogburú]
180. kite
pìlípìlí [pìlípìlí]
181. hawk
ὸgεk [ὸgεk]
182. guinea fork
ézόk [ézόk]
183. bat
ὸvày [ὸvày]
184. person
όnèt [όnεt]
185. name
énsόk [ésόk]
186. man
όsák [όsák]
187. male
όwésak [όwεsak]
188. husband
όbé [όbε]
189. woman
όché [όʧε]
190. female
όnáche [όnáʧε]
191. wife
όchèsak [όʧεsak]
192. old person
tόkponèt [tόkponèt]
193. senior/older
ὸyínkpei [ὸjíkpεi]
194. father
àdà [àdà]
195. mother
àmà [àmà]
cxviii
196. child
íwéchi [íwéʧi]
197. children
áwéchi [áwéʧi]
198. son
όwé [όwε]
199. daughter
όná [όná]
200. brother (senior) for man
wéma nyúnkpéí [wεma júkpεí]
201. brother(younger) for man
wéma nyínchí [wεma júʧí]
202. sister (older) for man
náma nyúnkpé [náma júkpε]
203. sister (younger) for man
náma nyúnchí [náma júʧí]
204. mother’s brother
wéma àyà [wεmajà]
205. in-law
όzámè [όzámε]
206. guest (stranger)
obakpé [obakpé]
207. friend
ogajé [ogaʤé]
208. king
όdyόng [όdyᴐŋ]
209. hunter
όgyáp [όgyáp]
210. thief
όvép [όvεp]
211. doctor (native)
όbúá [όbwá]
212. witch
όjìm [όʤìm]
213. chief
όdyόng [όdyᴐŋ]
cxix
214. medicine
ájèrán [áʤεrá]
215. fetish (juju)
ànsùn [àsù]
216. corpse
okόm [okόm]
217. God
όdù-ofan [όdù-ᴐfaŋ]
218. One
nyí [njí]
219. Two
nvà [mvà]
220. Three
ntát[ntát]
221. Four
ǹnà [ǹnà]
222. Five
ntyό [ntyᴐ]
223. Six
nchí [nʧí]
224. Seven
ǹtὸmvà[ǹtᴐmvà]
225. Eight
ntόndát [ntᴐndát]
226. Nine
ntorà [ntᴐrà]
227. Ten
όkόp [όkόp]
228. Eleven
όkόp nunyín [όkόp nunjín]
229. Eleven
ókópnunyín [ókópnují]
230. thirteen
ókópnuntát [ókópnutát]
231. fourteen
ókópnunnà [ókópnunà]
cxx
232. fifteen
ókópnuntyó [ókópnutyó]
233. sixteen
ókópnunchí [ókópnuʧí]
234. seventeen
ókópnuntònvà [ókópnutᴐvà]
235. eighteen
ókópnutóndát [ókópnutᴐdát]
236. nineteen
ókópnutorà [ókópnutᴐrà]
237. twenty
èko èvà [èko-εvà]
238. twenty-one
èko èvànúnyì [èko-εvànújì]
239. twenty-two
èko-èvánínvà [èko-εvánívà]
240. thirty
èko-ítá [èko-ítá]
241. forty
èko-ìná [èko-ìná]
242. fifty
èko-ètyò [èko-ètyò]
243. sixty
èko óchí [èko-όʧí]
244. seventy
èko-tònvà [èko tòvà]
245. eighty
èko tóndát [èko tódát]
246. ninety
èko tòrà [èko tòrà]
247. hundred
odarí [odarí]
248. two hundred
àdèrì ávà [àdεrávà]
249. four hundred
àdèrí ánà [àdεránà]
cxxi
250. black
ìshárá [ìʃárá]
251. white
ètárá [ètárá]
252. red
èbárá [èbárá]
253. big (great, large)
ǹkúkpei [ŋkúkpεi]
254. small
ǹkúchi [ŋkúʧi]
255. long (of stick)
èdèt [èdεt]
256. short (of stick)
óchúm [όʧúm]
257. old (opp. new)
fúk [fúk]
258. new
ǹkúfa [ŋkúfa]
259. wet
édóng [édóŋ]
260. dry
kúrí [kúrí]
261. hot(as fire)
élát [élát]
262. cold
ǹtán [ǹtáŋ]
263. right(side)
úfáningya [úfánigya]
264. left
nfét [nfét]
265. good
zèzè [zèzè]
266. bad
bébétere [bébétere]
267. sweet(tasty)
túnyín [tújí]
cxxii
268. heavy
ègbèkpá [ègbεkpá]
269. full
étók [étᴐk]
270. strong
echuró [eʧorό]
271. hard
èchòro [èʧὸro]
272. eat
gyá [gyá]
273. drink
fúá [fwá]
274. swallow
égyorò [éŋᴐrᴐ]
275. bite
élot [élot]
276. lick
élén [élε]
277. taste
élerú [élεrú]
278. spit
ètárà ànsho [ètáràʃo]
279. vomit
ávè [ávè]
280. urinate
nenzyì [nεzì]
281. defecate
shómèka [ʃόmèka]
282. give birth
émàt [émàt]
283. die
ákpó [ákpó]
284. stand(up)
ézé [ézε]
285. sit (down)
ését[ését]
cxxiii
286. kneel
lukpá [lukpá]
287. lie (down)
émúwét [émwεt]
288. sleep
aló [aló]
289. dream
lélè [lεlè]
290. go
jé [ʤé]
291. come
bá [bá]
292. return
víchá [viʧá]
293. arrive
éshó [éʃό]
294. eater
égán [égáŋ]
295. climb
fó [fó]
296. descend
wáchá [wáʧá]
297. fail
égbà [égbà]
298. walk
járá [ʤárá]
299. run
tí [tí]
300. jump
tòréshà [tὸréʃà]
301. fly
éyàng [éjàŋ]
302. pass(by)
égyùn [éŋù]
303. turn around
éjiyá [éʤijá]
cxxiv
304. follow
lé [lé]
305. see
éyá [éjá]
306. here
ǹgéke [ǹgéke]
307. touch (with hand)
etábá [etábá]
308. know
éyín [éjí]
309. remember
kpusú [kpusú]
310. forget
yìchásì [jìʧásì]
311. thing
nké [ŋké]
312. learn
ńyíná []
313. laugh
ényárá [éŋárá]
314. weep (cry)
évòm [évòm]
315. sing
bóm [bóm]
316. dance
zyét [zεt]
317. play (games)
lágyàle [láŋàlε]
318. fear
guwényìn [gwéjì]
319. greet (salute)
ńtáp [ńtáp]
320. abuse
ántóí [átóí]
321. fight
évwéy [évwéy]
cxxv
322. call (summon)
ńyíná []
323. send (someone)
dók [dók]
324. say (direct speech)
vè [vε]
325. ask (question)
dè [dè]
326. reply
éyíwá [éjíwá]
327. ask (request)
ésúnk [ésúk]
328. refuse
kpé [kpε]
329. like
búmá [búmá]
330. wait (desire)
gbép [gbεp]
331. look for
chíyègya [ʧíjègya]
332. lose (something)
ébít [ébít]
333. get (obtain)
ékó [ékó]
334. gather (things)
égímá [égímá]
335. steal
évép [èvεp]
336. take (one thing)
égyáí [éŋáí]
337. carry (load)
yén [jε]
338. show (something)
yúchá [júʧá]
339. give
sèsé [sεsε]
cxxvi
340. sell
góysì [góysì]
341. choose
chú [ʧú]
342. buy
góy [góy]
343. pay (for something)
fáy [fáy]
344. count
vará [vará]
345. divide (share out)
gápì [gápì]
346. finish
kúmà [kúmà]
347. work
étí [étí]
348. shoot
tang [táŋ]
349. kill
épét [épεt]
350. skin (flay)
óvùt [óvùt]
351. cool
ǹtáng[ǹtáŋ]
352. fry
ékè [ékε]
353. roast
évúm [évúm]
354. pound (in mortar)
lúm [lúm]
355. grind
vók [vók]
356. pour
fárá [fárá]
357. throw
táchì [táʧì]
cxxvii
358. weep
vóm [vóm]
359. burn
dò [dò]
360. extinguish
lìńchì [lĭʧì]
361. plait (hair)
shín [ʃí]
362. weave (cloth)
nùk [nùk]
363. spin (thread)
múnzò [múzò]
364. sew
ésón [ésó]
365. put on (clothes)
échím [éʧím]
366. take off (clothes)
fòróchì [fòróʧì]
367. wash (things)
wák [wák]
368. was (been)
àwèngó [àwεgó]
369. wring (clothes)
élèsha [élεʃa]
370. pull
gbikpá [gbikpá]
371. push
yúchá [júʧá]
372. beat (person)
mipít [mipít]
373. beat (drum)
évùm [évù]
374. break (pot calabash)
tép [tεp]
375. break (a stick)
ténkìt [tékìt]
cxxviii
376. tear
gan [ga]
377. split
étát [étát]
378. pierce
étégya [étεŋa]
379. hoe
òzàt [òzàt]
380. dig
sím [sím]
381. soak (seeds in holes)
édòy [édòy]
382. plant
dòyáchìt [dὸyáʧìt]
383. bud
étégya [étεŋa]
384. build (house)
jín [ʤí]
385. mould (pot)
èjínìengba [èʤínìgba]
386. carve (wood)
ché [ʧé]
387. make
kpá [kpá]
388. hold (in hand)
ékpám [ékpám]
389. tie rope
búáp [bwáp]
390. untie
chishá [ʧiʃá]
391. cover (in hand)
funá [funá]
392. open (door)
chúchú [ʧúʧú]
393. close
fám [fám]
cxxix
394. (be) rotten
évó [évó]
395. stink
éné [énε]
396. swell
éséng [ésεŋ]
397. blow (with mouth)
fékpá [fεkpá]
398. blow (of wind)
fékpá ogbak [fεkpògbak]
399. surpass
gán [gáŋ]
400. dwell
dékpò [dεkpò]
cxxx