LINGUIST List 17.3421

Tue Nov 21 2006

Diss: Syntax/Morphology: Sàláwù: 'A Comparative Study of the Syntax...'

Editor for this issue: Hannah Morales <hannahlinguistlist.org>

Directory         1.    Hannah Morales, A Comparative Study of the Syntax of Yorùbá and Òko-Ósànyèn (Àfiwé Ìtúpalè Síntáàsì Èdè Yorùbá àti Òko-Ósànyèn)
Message 1: A Comparative Study of the Syntax of Yorùbá and Òko-Ósànyèn (Àfiwé Ìtúpalè Síntáàsì Èdè Yorùbá àti Òko-Ósànyèn)
Date: 21-Nov-2006
From: Hannah Morales <hannahlinguistlist.org>
Subject: A Comparative Study of the Syntax of Yorùbá and Òko-Ósànyèn (Àfiwé Ìtúpalè Síntáàsì Èdè Yorùbá àti Òko-Ósànyèn)


Institution: Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Program: African Languages and Literatures Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2006

Author: Akeem Ségun Sàláwù

Dissertation Title: A Comparative Study of the Syntax of Yorùbá and Òko-Ósànyèn (Àfiwé Ìtúpalè Síntáàsì Èdè Yorùbá àti Òko-Ósànyèn)

Linguistic Field(s): Morphology                             Syntax
Subject Language(s): Oko-Eni-Osayen (oks)                             Yoruba (yor) Language Family(ies): Niger-Congo
Dissertation Director:
Lawrence Olúfémi Adéwọlé
Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis primarily highlighted the similarities and dissimilarities in the syntacticcomponents of the standard variety of Yorùbá language and Òko-Ósànyèn, a languagespoken in Ògòrì-Màgóngò Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. It also identifiedthe language universals and language specifics in various domains of the two languages.This contrastive effort was also with a view to directing attention to the need for are-classification of the West Benue-Congo and Niger-Congo phyla of the West AfricanLanguages.

The methodology for the research involved the collection of data through oral interviewwith forty native speakers of each of the two languages. The age bracket of theseinformants ranged from forty and eighty years. It was believed that these speakers wereold enough to speak the languages with minimum interference. This was supported byÌbàdàn 400-wordlist and a set of relevant self-generated questions. The investigation alsoinvolved library and archival researches which were undertaken to effect an extensivereview of literature. The data analysis was carried out within a modular generativegrammar known as the Principles and Parameters Theory.

It was found that the syntactic processes such as relativization, topicalization andfocusing in the two languages were similar whereas they are different in the areas suchas anti-focus, the presence or otherwise of the phonological impacts on the pronominaland the forms of negation.The study also discovered that the controversies on theMid-Tone Syllable, variant forms of the formative gbódò (must) and underlyingrepresentational form of the third singular pronoun object in the standard variety ofYorùbá were unnecessary in view of the fact the inherent forms and functions of all thosefeatures in the syntactic constructions of the Òko-Ósànyèn language pointed to theirproto statuses.

The study concluded that although Òko-Ósànyèn was an endangered language whereasYorùbá was not, the syntactic relatedness of the former to the latter, by and largepointed to a common ancestry.