Posture Verbs in Igbo

Abstract

Studies on posture verbs in other languages suggest that speakers use posture verbs to describe the position of objects thus revealing the varied conceptualization of entities in space among languages. Despite these diverse conceptualizations, the studies have identified the verbs sit; stand and lie as key members of the posture verb class (Newman 2002, Lemmens 2002, Atintono 2012). In the present study, verbs that indicate the positions of entities in space are explored in the Igbo language. The study specifically seeks to identify the members of this verb class, ascertain if there are specific conceptualizations that can affect the posture used within a given context in addition to determining whether the verbs apply to animate and inanimate entities. Data for the study were elicited from native speakers of the Igbo language adapting the Max Plancks picture series for positional verbs comprising series of photographs of objects in specific configurations. Other strategies devised by the researcher also formed sources of data for the study. From the analysis of the collected data, the initial findings of the study show that nò̩du̩ ‘sit’, kwu̩ru̩ ‘stand, dinà ‘lie’ , tú̩kwù̩ ‘squat’ amongst others constitute Igbo verbs denoting posture. In addition, the study posits multiple verbs for different varieties of the Igbo posture verb dinà ‘lie’.