Pluralisation in Ígálá and English

Ocheja Theophilus Attabor

doi:10.34256/ijll2014

Abstract

Languages of the world have certain similar linguistic features in terms of a finite set of fundamental principles which are universal to all languages on one hand, and a finite set of parameters which determine syntactic variability amongst them. In order to substantiate evidence of linguistic universals, there is need for comparative analysis of languages. The thrust of the paper is to expound the diversities and similarities in Ígálá and English linguistic systems in the area of patterns of pluralisation. The paper is hinged on Inferential-realizational theory. The paper observed that the noun class in Ígálá is marked for number through three inflectional markers [ám(á), ìb(ó) and áb(ó)] while the noun class in English is inflected for number by the following exponents: [-s, -es, -ies, -en, -ren, -ves] not losing sight of zero concept. Germane to this work is the fact that Ígálá and English exhibit extended exponence- a linguistic situation where a particular morphosyntactic property could be expressed by more than one morphological marking in the same word depending on the lexeme’s root. Plural markers in Ígálá are prefixes while plural markers in English are suffixes. In conclusion, English and Ígálá are uniform in one specific sense of the capacity to inflect words for grammatical purposes, but have different structures in the process of inflection or associating an inflected word with a specific set of morphosyntactic properties.

Highlights

Pluralisation is the act of pluralising or attributing plurality to noun class words
The paper observed that the noun class in Ígálá is marked for number through three inflectional markers [ám(á), ìb(ó) and áb(ó)] while the noun class in English is inflected for number by the following exponents: [-s, -es, -ies, -en, -ren, -ves] not losing sight of zero concept
Germane to this work is the fact that Ígálá and English exhibit extended exponence- a linguistic situation where a particular morphosyntactic property could be expressed by more than one morphological marking in the same word depending on the lexeme’s root

Summary

Introduction

Pluralisation is the act of pluralising or attributing plurality to noun class words. The capacity for inflecting words for the purpose of denoting plurality does not reside in only one language. Attabor (2011) argued that “there are no intrinsic features in both animate and inanimate nouns which attract and repel “am(a”) to and from them respectively” (32). One of the basic facts of inflectional morphology, according to Stump (2001) is that “the morphosyntactic properties associated with an inflected word may exhibit EXTENDED EXPONENCE in that word’s morphology” Besides, applying animacy hierarchy to the inflectional patterns in Ígálá is like forcing a theory on data or vice versa. There is no intrinsic morphosyntactic rules in Ígálá that inhibit “am(a”) from being used with inanimate nouns

Theoretical Framework

Pluralisation in Ígálá

Pluralisation in English

Discussion

Conclusions