This study describes the grammar of the Idaacha dialect of Yoruba in the areas of phonology and morphology within the framework of generative phonology and the autosegmental approach. Particular attention is paid to vowel harmony (VH) and tones. It is argued that the high vowels do not participate in the VH process, and specific VH rules apply before processes such as contraction and compounding.
Regarding tones, this work points out that a three-way tonal system is a major characteristic of the language. However, a phenomenon of M/L neutralization is underlined in the specific environment of a low tone, in a verb, followed by a direct object noun. In this environment, a low tone (L) changes to a mid tone (M), but the M/L alternation is optional before an initial low-tone noun.
In addition to describing the phonological processes above, this work examines the morphophonemics of the language, It claims that Idaacha, like Standard Yoruba (SY), has open syllables. Therefore, words are shaped as VCV, CVCV, VCVCV, and longer lexical items build upon these basic sequences. Morphemes are described with special reference to derivational processes. Then the issue of prefixation is discussed, and it is argued that besides the existing nominalizing prefixes, one cannot prove, on the basis of synchronic analysis, that the initial vowel in every VCV noun in Idaacha is a prefix. Last but not least, the morphophonemics of nominals is described with regard to associative constructions, noun compounding, verb-noun contraction, and deverbal nouns.
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