SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS OF TIV POSSESSIVES

BY

DYAKO AONDONGUTER LEO

FACULTY OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS BENUE STATE UNIVERSITY, MAKURDI.

[email protected] 08131136937
2021

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Human beings are able to exchange knowledge, beliefs, opinions, wishes, threats,

commands, thanks, promises, declarations, feelings amusement, happily our imagination

sets limits. We can pines, Or disrespect, we can smile, laugh to express amusement,

pleasure, approval, or bitter feelings, we can clench our fists shriek to express anger,

excitement, or fear, determination, anger or a threat, we can eyebrows to express our

surprise or disapproval, and so on, but our system of communication before anything

else is language. “Language is a system of communication based upon words and the

combination of words into sentences” (Ezeh 2014:45). Communication by means of

language may be referred to as human communication , the other ways mentioned

above such as: laughing, smiling, shrieking, and so on are types of all nonlinguistic

communication . Encyclopedia Brittanica, vol.13, defines Language as “a system of

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conventional spoken or written symbols by means of which human beings as members of a

social group and participants in its culture, communicate.”

Human species can exchange information, but none of them are known to

have a system of communication with a complexity that in any way is comparable to

language. Primarily, they (other animals) communicate with resembling our smiling,

laughing, nonlinguistic means, yelling, clenching of fists, and raising of eyebrows.

Chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans can exchange different kinds of information by

emitting different kinds of shrieks, composing their faces in numerous ways, and

moving their hands or arms i n different gestures, but they do not have words and

sentences. By moving in certain pattern, bees are apparently able to tell their fellow

workers where to find honey, but apparently not very much else. Birds sing different

to defend their territory or to attract a mate. Language as defined above is an exclusively

human property. Among the characteristics that make a relatively clear distinction

between linguistic and nonlinguistic communication meaningful, two are particularly

important: articulation and syntax .

Languages consist of tens of thousands of meaning signs , which are combinations

of form and . Form in spoken languages is a sequence of sounds, in written languages

for example a sequence of letters (depending upon what kind of writing system we

are talking about) and in the sign languages of the deaf a certain combination of

gestures.

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 Syntax is used to put together signs expressing relatively simple meanings into

sign combinations expressing more complex meanings. To express a meaning like

‘man killed lion’, we combine signs meaning ‘man’, ‘kill’, ‘past’, and ‘lion’, and we

combine the same signs in a different way to express the meaning ‘lion killed man’.

The English sign sequences are sentences killed lion and lion kill man, and the number

of sentences in a language is infinite. Take any sentence in a language, and it is

always possible to make it longer: the man killed the lion ⇒ the woman said that the

man killed the lion ,the woman said that the young man killed the lion , the old

woman said that the young man killed the lion that ate the antelope so on infinitely.

Language analysis has three levels: Sound, Meaning and Form. The focus of this study,

however is on Form particularly syntactic analysis of possessions in Tiv

Syntax is a mechanism that enables human beings to utter or understand an infinite

number of sentences constructed from a finite number of building blocks. Without

syntax, we would not be able to express other meanings than those associated with

isolated signs, and the number of different meanings we would be able to express

would be equal to the number of signs in the “language”.

In linguistics, syntax refers to the rules that govern the ways in which words combine to form

phrases, clauses, and sentences. It's the concept that enables people to know things like

adjectives generally come before the nouns they describe (green chair), how to start a

question with a question word (What is that?), that subjects often come before verbs in non-

question sentences (She jogged.), prepositional phrases start with prepositions (to the store),

helping verbs come before main verbs (can go, will do), and so on.
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 For native speakers, using correct syntax is something that comes naturally, as word order

is learned as soon as an infant starts absorbing the language. Native speakers can tell

something is not said quite right because it "sounds weird," even if they cannot detail the

exact grammar rule that makes something sound "off" to the ear.

"It is syntax that gives the words the power to relate to each other in a sequence...to carry

meaning—of whatever kind—as well as glow individually in just the right place," Anthony

Burgess in "Enderby Outside" (1968:23).

English parts of speech often follow ordering patterns in sentences and clauses, such as

compound sentences are joined by conjunctions (and, but, or) or that multiple adjectives

modifying the same noun follow a particular order according to their class (such as number-

size-color, as in six small green chairs).

“Sentences often start with a subject, followed by a predicate (or just a verb in the simplest

sentences) and contain an object or a complement (or both), which shows, for example,

what's being acted upon. Take the sentence "Beth slowly ran the race in wild, multicolored

flip-flops." The sentence follows a subject-verb-object pattern (the woman is john’s

wife).”Jim M. ("An Introduction to English Syntax." Edinburgh University Press, 2002)

1.2 Statement of the Problem

There has been a couple of research on the syntactic structure of Tiv language and very few

on Tiv parts of speech, which is the life wire of every language, Tiv language inclusive. This

negligent has affected to a great extend possessives and how they operate in Tiv sentences.

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This has resulted to the slow pace of development in the language as it has also discouraged

emerging researchers to take up research in this area of Tiv language.

There are relatively few or no books and reference materials on the rules that govern

possessives in sentences of the Tiv language. Hence, errors in the usage of possessives in the

language by those acquiring and learning the language. These are some of the factors that

have informed this researcher’s decision to embark on the syntactic analysis of possessives in

Tiv.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

This current research analysis the available possessives in the Tiv language, especially as

they work in Tiv sentences.

The objectives of the study are to:

i Identify possessives in Tiv and their roles.

ii Identify the types of possessives in Tiv language.

iii Identify the sentence structure of Tiv .

1.4 Research Questions

This research intends to find answers to the following questions:

i What are possessives in the Tiv language and their roles?

ii What are the types of possessives in the Tiv language?

iii What is the sentence structure of the Tiv language?

1.5 Significance of the Study

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 Little research has been carried out on the so called “minority languages” of which

Tiv is one, especially in terms of grammar. This research is to bring forth knowledge in the

study of Tiv language.

Considering the slow pace of development of the Tiv language and literature over the

past two decades, this research is particularly significant in light of the fact that its finding

will, hopefully enhance rapid development of Tiv language and literature .The study will also

serve as the foundation and reference material to other researchers in Tiv language.

1.6 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study is concerned with Tiv possessives, their arrangement, roles in Tiv sentences. The

study will neither be concerned with other types of adjectives, pronouns nor other syntactic

structures. Due to time and financial constraints vis-à-vis paucity of Tiv text however, the

study has focused on the permissible syntactic structures of Tiv language.

It is hoped that this study would be of benefit to all Tiv language users and scholars alike.

1.7 Ethno-Linguistics Profile of the Tiv People and Language

According to Wegh (1998:33) The word “Tiv” has a triple meaning. It is the name of the

Tiv ethnic group; it is also refers to their language (Zwa Tiv); It is also the name by which

the Tiv know their ancestral father Tiv.

The above view is not far from the assertion of many scholars. Bohannan through Sokpo

(2016:8) aver that, the name Tiv has multiple meaning; he further opined that the word “Tiv”

is the name applied to the people by themselves, they consider it the name of the original

ancestors from whom they all trace agnatic descent. Makar in Sokpo (2016:8) opined that,

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“it is a culture-group of people who, by the 1963 census numbered one and half million” He

further assert that ‘it is also claimed that Tiv is the name of the father of all Tiv people.

In the words of Orban (2005: 3) Tiv is one of the (major) groups that occupy part of the

rolling savannah region popularly known as the Middle Belt of Nigeria. By 1991-census

figures, the Tiv people numbered over 4million and occupy a total landmass of about 22,00sq

km. Their geographical spread extends from Benue the heart of Tiv land to the neighboring

states.

According to Dzurgba (2011:15),

Tiv language is the language spoken mainly by the Tiv people. It Is also

a lingua franca among the proto-Idoma neigbours of the Tiv such as the

Etulo, Jukun, Abakpa and Nyifon.

There are over ten million speakers of the Tiv language in the Nigerian states of Benue,

Cross River, the Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna, Lagos, Nasarawa, Plateau and Taraba.

The Tiv language is homogenous and has no dialect at all. It is coherent and

understandable by all the Tiv people

Wegh (1998 :38) emphasizes:

… There is little to hinder mutual intelligibility among the

Numerous speakers of the language (Tiv) .The only

Noticeable differences are traceable to the socio-linguistics

Effects of language in contact situations leading to linguistics

Variation and even cultural interference among the various ethnic

Groups living at the peripheral of Tiv land.

language is used for educating, socializing and entertaining the native speakers and her

visitors. It also enhances the tribal identity, unity and solidarity of the Tiv people.

1.8 Typological Classification of the Tiv Language

In the words of Sokpo (2016:12), Tiv is purely an agglunative language. That is, it adopts a

morphological process of word formation. This is usually a case where each morpheme

corresponds to a single meaning and the morpheme are linearly connected. Sokpo (2016:13)

The words in Tiv language typically occur in a linear sequence of morphs-‘wanye/kwase’

(little girl).

Languages of the world are grouped into different language families. Among which is the

Niger-Congo family, which is a larger sub-family of the Niger-Kordofornian phylum. Yina

(2011:37) assert that, ‘Tiv language belongs to one of the kwa-Bantu languages that belong

to the Bantoid sub-family of Niger-Congo. Mkor in Sokpo (2016:13) also attest that Tiv is

part of the southern Bantoid Tivoid family, a branch of Benue –Congo and ultimately of the

Niger-Congo phylum. The Encyclopedia Britannica (2010) observes that the largest sub-

group of the Bantoid in terms of population is Tivoid, with 19 languages; the Tiv language

has some 2,500,000 speakers.

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 Abraham (1940:12) argues that Tiv language is not semi-Bantu, but real Bantu. He

further opined that, Tiv and the Jar are full Bantu languages whose vocabularies are similar

to that of the Nyanza group in East Africa.

Yina (2011:13) states that Tiv is a southern Bantoid- Tivoid language in the Benue-Congo

family, and ultimately of the Niger-Congo family.

According to him, Tiv is the largest sub-group in terms of population in the Benue-Congo

family, which has 900 languages, stretching across Nigeria to Cameroun throughout central

Africa to eastern Africa. Out of this number, ten major sub-families are in Nigeria. These

include the Oko and Ukaan-Akpes, Defoid, Edoid, Nupoid, Idomoid, Igboid, Kainji, Cross

River and Bantoid.

Linguistics of Tiv language refers to the scientific study of Tiv language. It involves the

detailed look into the form, meaning and context of Tiv language.

Linguistics of Tiv can be treated or considered in different branches. Tiv phonetics studies

the various sounds while Tiv semantics is concerned with truth conditions. Tiv pragmatics is

the branch of linguistics, which deals with how context influences the production of meaning

Orban (2006:4).

The study of rules, which govern the production of Tiv sounds, words and sentences, is

called Tiv grammar. Tiv phonology specializes in the formation of phonemes. The area,

which considers the formation and composition of words, is Tiv morphology. Tiv syntax, on

the other hand, looks at the phrases and sentences. The documentation of Tiv words that form

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dictionaries is Tiv lexicography. Below is a tree diagram indicating the location of the Tiv

language and its family.

Genetic Tree Classification of the Tivoid Language Phylum

NIGER CONGO

Volta-Congo Atlantic Congo

North Volta-Congo kru Kwa Benue-Congo

East Benue-Congo West Benue-Congo

Ukaan Cross-River
Kainji &Platoid Bantoid

Northern Bantoid Southern Bantoid

Non-Narrow Bantu Narrow Bantu

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 Jarawan Bantu
Tivoid

Tiv Otank Iyive Evant Bitare Abon Iceve-Maci Batu-Clusters.

Source: Greenberg (1974) classification

CHAPTER TWO

Review of Related Literature

2.1 Preamble

This chapter takes a critical look at the available literature on the subject under

consideration. The intention of the chapter is to give insight into what other scholars have

done or otherwise on the problem, ascertain the current state of the knowledge and/or

methodological approaches and as well as establish the gap in knowledge that justifies this

study. The chapter therefore looks at the conceptual framework, the theoretical framework,

and the empirical studies. A brief summary is subsequently given at the end of the chapter.

2.2 Conceptual Framework

2.2. 1 Language.

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 Language has structures that are rule-governed and systematic in nature. Following this

assertion, Tremholm looks at language as a rule-governed system of symbols that allow the

users to generate meaning and in the process, to define reality (82). Despite the arbitrary

nature of language, Gimson affirms that it has pattern of conventions, rules covering sound

units, the inflections and arrangement of ‘words’ and the association of meaning with

words(4) that learners of English as a second language have to brace up with for proficient

performance. From the above view of these scholars, Oyewo concludes that, every language

exhibits certain important characteristics; it is made up of symbols, it is rule-governed; it is

productive and it affects individuals’ view of the world. Stock (1992:34) see “language” as

the expression of ideals through sounds which is combined into words, words into sentences

and then sentences int thoughts.Building on this, Els et al (1994:35) view language as:

The most important medium of human communication. It is both

unique to the species and universal within that same specie. Only

human beings can make use of verbal communication and all human

can learn it.

From all of the above, the concept of language seem to have the idea of communication as its

focuse. Communication in the words of Gartside (1976:67) is “ the basic essence of

language” Gartside further opines that “It is possible to communicate pleasures by a smile,

approved by a nod of head……and pain by groan, and death. Evolve a complete sign

language”.

Language having components, it is made up of phonology, grammar (syntax), semantics and

pragmatics.
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2.2.2 Syntax

The study of sentence formation and structure is the basic preoccupation of the

component of language called syntax. Syntax is therefore defined as the study of the rules

whereby words or other elements of sentence structure are combined to form grammatical

sentences. Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams explain further that ‘syntactic rules determine the

order of words in a sentence, and how the words are grouped’ (123). Syntax is a traditional

term for the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences in a

language; the linear representation of words in a sentence (Crystal 471; Azubike 89). From

the above considerations on syntax, one is right to claim that every language including Tiv

has its own structure, pattern of arrangement of words and other syntactic components.

Individual words that form the sentences of a language are classified into different word

classes. And assigned roles and or different functions. If Tiv language should enjoy the fold

of universals, it must project its particularity and universal characteristics. It must enjoy its

particularity and peculiarity with some universal constraints such as lexical categories.

2.2.3 Lexical Categories

Lexical categories as used here is in line with the general notion of the concept. Lexical

categories are simply, Words of a language that are classified into various parts and termed

parts of speech. Just like any other language, Tiv words are distributed into various lexical

categories such as Nouns, Verbs, Pronouns, Adjectives, Prepositions, etc. In this study, focus

is on Pronouns and adjectives.

a. Pronouns.

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According to Titus (2018:18) “A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun to avoid

monotonous repetition” . Pronouns substitute a noun in a sentence and function as the subject

and object of the sentence. The main role of pronouns according to Titus (2018:18) is to

“avoid monotonous repetition”. Consider the sentences below:

a. Terna yam wondu, Terna er kwase, Terna maa ya shi Terna nger takerada.

b. Terna buy trouser, Terna marry woman, Terna build house and Terna write book

c. Terna bought a trouser, Terna got married, Terna build a house and Terna wrote a

book.

The noun Terna as repeated over and over can be substituted with a pronoun, and put thus:

a. Terna yam wondu, A er kwase, A maa ya shi A nger takerada.

b. Terna buy trouser, He/She marry woman, He/She built house and He/She write book.

c. Terna bought a trouser, He/She got married, He/She built a house and He/She wote a

book.

Orjime (2004:12) Aver that “pronouns refer to people, things, events etc.” According Him, “

A pronouns functionally replaces a noun or noun phrase when giving information about a

person or something that just mentioned.” Pronouns do not just replace nouns, they also

replace things and a noun phrase. For instance:

a. Sarah is there, and she wants money.

b. Dooshima got herself a car.

c. That was bad of you.

d. The laptops are quite espensive, so we will buy twenty .

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Orjima further opines that “ There are some pronouns that do not overtly show who or what

they refer to”. That is, they are not very specific on who or what exactly they are to replace.

Example:

a. Who goes there?

b. Is anybody at home?

c. Something is wrong somewhere.

d. Has anyone come yet?

e. What do you have?

There are subclasses of pronouns divided according to their functions-subject, object,

possessive and reflexive. The one to be employed depends on the noun it is to replace.

1. Reflexives Pronoun:

Reflexive pronoun refers a noun or pronouns in a sentence. Given Chomsky’s (1772, 1975)

view of syntax as autonomous from semantics, Radford (1981:157) posits that the division of

labor between syntax and semantics in the case of reflexive would be:

Syntax: specifies the position in a sentence in which reflexive occur.

Semantics: specifies which expression(s) in a sentence a given reflexive pronoun can be

interpreted as referring to (i.e. specific the range of possible antecedents for a reflexive

pronoun. In view of this, Radford (1981:24) propose a Reflexive interpretation rule along

the lines of. “A reflexive can be construed with any expression in the same clause which has

the same number, gender and person”. Below are examples of reflexive pronouns

(a) I hurt myself

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 (a) John hurt himself

(b) Mary looked at herself in the mirror

2. Possessive pronouns:

Pronouns are also used in indicating possession. English possessive pronouns can be

distinguished into two classes, the one referred to as pronominal and the other that are

nominal includes; my, our, he’s, your, its and the important grammatical features of this class

is that they function as determiners. The nominal possessive pronoun in English includes;

mine, ours, yours, hers and theirs.

These pronouns function strictly as nouns hence they are called ‘nominal.

However, ‘his’ has unique features that enable it to function as both nominal and

pronominal.

E.g. She went with herson (nominal)

He arrived with his camera. (Pronominal).

3. Relative Pronouns:

The functions and inter relation of the relative pronouns are best handled in connection

with relative clauses (Quirk et al 1973:66). These pronouns are frequently called WH –

expressions in most books on grammatical analysis. However, it needs to be stressed that

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 they differ from interrogatives functionally because interrogatives are mainly for asking

questions.

b. Adjectives

Adjective describe and give further information on nouns as persons or things,

events among others. Adjectives are applied to nouns, pronouns and clauses: a clean boy,

that is wonderful, the tall girl. According to Orjima (2004:12), “Adjectives are not inflated

to form plural or show gender difference in most languages. Some African languages like

Hausa, however, code this information morphologically.” Orjima further assert that:

Many nouns can be used like adjectives. This happens when nouns are

used before another noun in order to give more detailed information about

the thing: a book shelf, a tooth brush, a university lectures.

Mathew (1997:78) defined adjective as ‘a word of a class whose most characteristics role

is as the modifier of a noun; e.g. in, ‘tall ladies, ‘tall’ is an adjective modifying ‘ladies’.

Hence typically understood as referring to properties, not essential to whatever that is

denoted by the noun. The nature of this word class varies from one language to the other.

In some language, for instance, the class is an open one, e.g. English, while in some other

language the class is an open one.

2.2.4 Possessives

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 The concept possessive, According to Kpamor (2013:68) “ show ownership, i.e., that

something belongs to someone or something else.”. They are morphemes, words and even

phrases that show who owns what in sentences of a language.

The Oxford advance dictionary 9th edition confirms the above definition of possessive , it

sees possessives to be “ A word used to indicate the possessive case”. Possessives form part

of a sentence and take the position that indicate what belongs to who or what. Possessives are

strictly pertaining to ownership, possession and origin. These groups of linguistic entities

trace the origin of something or someone to indicate ownership.

Mbayev mban due shin tse gbe

(Children these come from Tse Gbe)

These children are from Tse Gbe,

Ka mbayev mba Gbe

(Is children of Gbe)

They are Gbe’s children.

2.2.5 Structure of Tiv Sentences

Generally, sentence are more than one word placed after another in a string. According to

Fromkin, V. and Rodman, R (1993: 78) “syntactic rules determine the order of words in a

sentence”. A sentence express a full complete thought and has the ability to generate

meaning individually. Words in a sentence fall into two major patterns subject and predicate.

Where the subject is the topic of the sentence, the predicate is the comment made about the

subject. According to Iyortyom,L (2011:55) “In modern grammar, the subject is refered to as

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a noun phrase (NP).” Consider a typical branching diagram that describes a sentence in its

structural form.

NP VP

(Noun phrase) (Verb phrase)

Wan la Kaha sule

According to Orjime (2004:74), “Tiv language is generally a Subject Verb Object (SVO)

language”. Our analysis in this work will be concerned more with possessives. Examples of

Tiv Sentences:

S V O

Doofan Ya Nyam

(Doofan ate meat)

Kwase wam yam bua

(my wife bought a cow)

phrase as illustrated below:

S (NP) P (VP)

Doofan ya nyam (Doofan ate meat)

Kwase wam yam bua (My wife bought a cow)

Tiv sentences can also be formed in the following patterns:

V - Ve (comes) (he) --- the subject is implied.

SV - M ye ( I eat)

SVO - Chia ta wan-na kela (Chia threw away his son).

SVOA - Sussan òr wan iyol tsembelee (Sussan bath the

child well)

SVC - Tagesa ka ticha (Tagesa is a teacher)

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SVA - Or la ngu lamen teghlee (The man is speaking

slowly)

SVOO - Seember yam u msòrum (Sseember bought drinks for

you)

In the above analysis;

V= is used to mean verb,

S= subject,

A= Adverb / Adjunct .

C= complement.

2.3 Theoritical Review

2.3.1 Government Theory

The Government theory is the main structural idea that is central to the GB theory. That is,

many of the other theories are build upon it. Such as; Case theory, Theta theory, the Empty

Category Principle (ECP) etc. The notion of government as used in this study, follows from

the ideal of C-command. c-command is viewed variously by different scholars based on

individual prediction. For the sake of this study, the definition Reinhart (1976:44), as cited

in Horvath (1986:54) holds. A C (constituent)-commands B if neither A nor B dominates the

other and the first branching node which dominates A dominates B. According to him, “the

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first branching node is considered to be a maximal projection” That is, NP or VP.

Government in the words of (Cf. Chomsky (1986:56).

1. A governs B if and only if

A C-commands B, and there is no

Category C, such that C is a barrier

between A and B.

Chomsky’s definition above shows that, all lexical categories ( N, V, A, P) govern all

elements contained in their maximal projections ( NP, VP, AP, P P ) . One can therefore

assume that INFL (ection) category, if it is marked [+Tense] or [+AGR(element)] can be a

governor although it is not considered as a lexical category. This accounts for the reason why

INFL is regarded as the governor of the subject of its clause.

Government enters into the statement of the Empty Category Principle (ECP),that allows

traces to be correctly governed.

2. A properly governs B if and only if

A governs B, and (a). A is a lexical category

(b). A is coindexed with B.

Generally, there is no doubt that ECP applies only to nonpronominal elements. In other

words, the principle does not hold of pronominal elements (big PRO and small

pro). The above definition states that a lexical head or a coindexed antecedent governs empty

categories.

2.3.2. Theta Theory

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The concern of theta theory is the relation between heads and their complements. Lexicons

assign thematic roles to their complements under government. Such that the number of theta-

roles are equal to the number of the arguments a lexical element selects. The theta roles so

assigned are Agent, Goal, Theme, Instrumental, Benefactive. Location, Possessor etc. The

assumption is that lexical heads directly assign theta roles to their complements while the

subject theta-roles are assigned indirectly. Which means, it is compositionally determined by

the verb and its complements. This is perhaps because the verb does not govern the subject.

Chomsky (1981:176) proves that the subject theta-role is assigned indirectly (i.e. by the verb

and its complements) gave examples analysed below.

3a. John broke the door

b. John broke his hand

With their Tiv equivalent thus.

4a. Yohane hembe Hunda shon

A he-PERF break door

~Yohane broke the door1

b. Yohane kever wegh nagh

A he-PERF break hand-his

"Yohane broke his hand1

In (3a and 4a) John is the Agent that performs the action. Whereas in (3b and 4b) John again

the subject this time bears the Patient theta-role. The "Theta-Criterion" is a principle central

to Theta theory. This is a condition on theta role assignment, consider a version of it below.

5. Each argument bears one and only one theta-role,

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and each theta-role is assigned

to one and only one argument.

According to Chomsky (1981:36). "Argument as used in (5) means noun phrases that require

theta-roles, (referential function). Like are: names, variables, pronouns and anaphors.

Nonarguments, on the other hand, do not require theta-roles. The nonarguments include: the

"pleonastic elements" i.e. "there", and impersonal "it".

Chomsky (1986:67) claims that theta-roles are assigned only to elements in (Argument)

position and this position is called "theta-Position". A position that is not assigned theta-roles

is known as "theta-bar position." The general assumption is that movement is always from a

"theta-position" to a "theta-bar position." That is, an argument can only move from a theta-

marked position to a non-theta marked position. However, movement of an argument from a

theta-marked position to another theta-marked position is not allowed in that it would violate

the Theta-Criterion. Example

6a. who/i did John see t/i

b. *John/i see t/i

In (6a) the Wh-element moves into the COMP-position which is a theta-bar position (i.e. no

theta-role is assigned at that position). In the case of (6b) of the element moves to another

theta-position (i.e. the subject position) where another theta-role can be assigned. As a result

the moved element 'John* ends up with two theta roles in violation of the Theta Criterion.

Theta Criterion is assumed to hold at D-structure.

2.3.3. Binding Theory

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The center idea here is the principles that govern the relation between anaphors, reciprocals,

reflexives and pronouns. Chomsky (1981:64), opines that, there are basically three binding

Conditions as given below.

7. A. An anaphor must be bound in its governing category.(anaphors: NP-traces, lexical

anaphors, PRO).

B. A pronominal is free in its governing category,

00(Pronominal: pronouns, PRO).

C. An R (= referential)- expression is free.

(R-expressions: names, variables).

The whole idea of 'bound' is seen in (8), and in (9) “governing category' is clearly expressed.

8. A is bound if A is an argument coindexed with a C-commanding argument. Free indicates

A is not bound.

9. A is a governing category for B if and only if A is the minimal category containing B, a

governor of B and a SUBJECT accessible to B. one can then conclude judging from the

above definitions that, empty categories are part of the binding conditions. Example, NP-

traces and PRO respect condition (A), empty pro and PRO respect condition (B) and Wh-

traces

respect condition (C). This makes it possible to classify the various occurrences of both overt

NPs and empty NPs with the features [+pronominal and [+ anaphoric].

2.3.4. Bounding Theory

25
The sub theory constrains the movement process allowed by the convention Move-alpha.

That is, the sub theory ensures that movement rules cannot apply across more than one

bounding node. Bounding nodes include N P f S and S' subject to parametric variations (cf. 5

Rizzi 1982). One of these constraints is the "Subjacency Condition" which restricts how far

Move-alpha can take a category in one-step. Note that Subjacency is now stated in terms of

'Barriers' (cf. Chomsky 1986), I will continue to use the term Subjacency since it is not

crucial to my analysis.

.11 _____ A __[ X [_______ [ Y ____B ] ______ A.

No rule can involve A and B in if both X and Y are bounding nodes. The Subjacency

Condition says, in effect, that Move alpha cannot cross two bounding nodes. The following

examples, taken from Chomsky (1986:153), illustrate how the Wh-movement violates the

bounding theory by crossing more than one bounding node.

12. *who does John believe [the claim that [Bill saw e]]

b *what does John know to whom [Bill gave e e]

c. *to whom does John know what [Bill gave e e)

The above sentences are ungrammatical because the moved Wh-elements have crossed more

than one bounding nodes in one swoop. The Subjacency Condition violation can be avoided

if the Wh-element moves from one COMP-position to another (known as COMP to COMP

movement). However, movement to COMP-position is blocked in the above sentences

because the lower COMP-position is occupied by a Wh-phrase (cf. Baltin 1982).

2.3.5. Case Theory

26
This theory deals with the assignment of Case to lexical categories. In some languages (e.g.

German and Turkish) Case is morphologically realized while in others (e.g. Hausa and

English) Case is assumed to be abstract. Nevertheless, the general assumption is that both

abstract and morphological Cases are assigned in a uniform way.

Furthermore, Case assignment, just like Binding theory, is assigned under government to a

phonetically realized NP. Chomsky (1981:170) proposes the following Case assignment

rules: NP is nominative if governed by AGR.

NP is objective if governed by V.

NP is oblique if governed by P.

sNP is genitive in the structure [ NP X'].

In addition, Chomsky (1981: 49) proposes the 41 following well-formedness condition,

known as the "Case Filter," which requires that at PF every phonetically realized NP must

have Case.

It has been claimed by Stowell (1981:34) that Case assignment observes a condition of

"adjacency" which requires that Case assigners not only govern but be adjacent to the

elements to which they assign Case. In other words, if there is an intervening element

between the Case assigner and Case receiver, the Case assignment would be blocked. Stowell

(1981:98), following Chomsky (1981:88), proposes the following condition.

If the configuration [ A B_ _ or [_ _ _ A B ]

A case-marks B where,

(i ) A is a governor and

(ii) A is adjacent to B and

27
(iii) A is [-N ].

Consider the following examples: The prepositional phrase and adverb prevent the verb from

directly assigning Case to the direct object NP. This of Course, violates the "adjacency

condition". In contrast, sentences satisfy the adjacency requirement.

a. John put the book on the table

b. *John put on the table the book

c. John insulted Mary deliberately

d. *John insulted deliberately Mary

It would be observed from the above that only [-N] categories (e.g. Verb and Preposition)

are assumed to assign Case directly to their complements. This means that nouns and

adjectives cannot directly take bare NPs complements because, these NPs would lack Case. a

*the destruction the city

b. *proud John (87).

To save the above sentence, the rule of "of-insertion” must apply as demonstrated as shown

below.

a. the destruction of the city

b. proud of John

According to Chomsky (1986:89), a distinction between "structural Cases and inherent

Cases" is introduced. The former are: nominative Case assigned by AGR element within the

INFL, and the objective Case assigned by the verb. The latter are: oblique Case assigned by

preposition, and genitive Case assigned by nouns and adjectives. The difference between

structural and inherent Cases follows from the level at which the Case assignment occurs.

28
Thus, structural Cases are assigned at S-structure while inherent Cases are assigned at D-

structure and are 43 associated with theta marking.

All of the above theories account for the grammar or structure of a language. They are

concerned with the rules that govern the combination of lexicons into permissible sentences

of a language, which is the aim of this study, hence their importance to the study. Subsequent

analysis of finding in this study will hold on the arguments of the above syntactic theories

and especially government and binding theory (GB)

2.4 Empirical Review.

There is no completely same work as this current study on Tiv language. However,

there are just a handfull of studies related to this subject matter. Some of the available works

on syntax and traditional grammar include the works of : Kpamor Dr. J.T. Orkar (2013),

Orjime D.S. (2004), Robert D. (1998),. Yina Godwin, Sokpo and Kuna (2020), Ikima (2016).

Yina Godwin etal (2020) x-rayed the “morphosyntax of Tiv personal possessives”. He

avers that, possessives adjectives are used in combination with a noun, playing the role of

determiner or postpositive adjective. Other languages have such words as complete

definiteness. They exemplified this sentences “ my car implies the car that belongs to me.

Accordimg to them, a determiner does not precede possessives or other definite determiners

such as a demonstratives “In the English language possessives come before nouns, where as

Yina etal insist that, the Tiv language places the possessives after the noun as in

“ Ityakeda yam

Books-PL MY. POSS

(MY BOOKS)

29
The study vividly discussed both adjectival and pronominal possessives in the Tiv language

with a quick glance from time to time at the possessive of other languages such as English

etc.. This current research takes the tremendious efforts of these scholars further building

strongly on their solid foundation.

Ikima (2016) studied the “Aspects of the morphosyntactic behavior of functional

categories in Tiv.” Ikima asserts that, Tiv language has the three functional heads: T, Agr and

Asp. The present and the past tenses are not overtly in Tiv. The verbs system of the Tiv

language is very complex especially in regards to its morphology, they are always inflected

majorly by prefixation, suffixation, reduplication etc. She opined that, “The verb in Tiv is

only grammatical element that house up to four functional elements: agreement, tense,

aspect, mood which makes the verb very complex”. Ikima’s work and others are no doubt a

building block to this current study, the current study will however, increase on the blocks

Ikima has layed.

Kpamor (2013) “Essential of Tiv language” is intended to serve as a “reference book for

learners and teachers, to be used in developing texts of all sorts of grades for use in schools”

the work is provoked out the fact that, teaching and learning in Tiv language in homes is “

Almost non-existent” . Apart from the fact that, non-Tiv speakers may want to read about

the language, there are Tiv speakers that have great challenges in reading full Tiv blown

books, hence “essentials of Tiv language. The book is the English version of “chaghkyam u

Zwa Tiv” though not a translation of the book. Kpamor identified nine word classes to

include: “Noun, pronoun, numeral, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and

interjections. Similar to the current study is pronouns, adjectives and adjectives.

30
 According to Kpamor (2013), “A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun which is

already known or understood from the context to avoid repetition.” He further identified

pronouns as;

Mo, m, me, and se. (1st person singular and plural).

We, U, Ne, and Ven (2nd person singular and plural)

UN, A, Wen, Na and Ve (3rd person singular and plural).

In the words of Kpamor, “Possessive Pronouns show the ownership” according to him,

possessive pronouns in Tiv are formed taking into consideration the noun classes. The

possessive pronouns precede nouns. Kpamor identified basic possessive pronouns to include

Agh, Yagh, Av, Wam, Yam, Am, Yav and Ou. From which other possessives are derived, for

second, third person singular and plural respectively.

Defining Adjectives Kpamor posits that, an “adjective is word which qualifies a noun or

limits its denotation by reference to quality, number or position.”

In “essential of Tiv language”, Kpamor however failed to neither identify nor state if or

not there are possessive adjectives or not. The study is also limited to word classes and

speech sounds without a detail analysis of the sentence structure of lexical categories in Tiv.

This current research corrects the errors and weakness of Kpamor’s “essentials in Tiv”.

Orjime (2004) Insist that, “If the Tiv language should enjoy the fold of universals,

it must project its particularity and peculiarity with some universal constraints ….such as

nouns, verbs, pronouns, prepositions etc).” He is of the view that, “In Tiv, like many other

languages, the NP can be found in three positions as a constituent i.e. , in the subject position,

in the object position and an object of a preposition”. For instance:

31
 Akaazua yam tule bua shin makurdi

From the above sentence, one can identify three NPs

a. Akaazua

b. Bua

c. Makurdi

(a) Being a subject, (b) object and (c) as object of the preposition (shin).

The study however, focuse more on Tiv sentence structure and has failed to discuss vividly

lexical categories in terms of their types, roles and functions. Orjime in his study totally

ignored possessives both in regard to pronouns and adjectives. This current study will not

just analyse the sentence structure of Tiv language, but will analyse in detail lexical

categories.

On the structure of sentences, Robert ( 1998) aver that:

two distinct yet interrelated aspects must be distinguished. The function

of elements as subject and direct object in a sentence. ‘Subject’ and

‘direct object’ have traditionally been referred to as grammatical

relations. Hence this kind of syntax will be referred to as ‘relational

structure’. It includes more than just grammatical relations like subject

and direct object; it also encompasses relationships like modifier–

modified, e.g. tall building or walk slowly (tall, slowly = modifier,

building, walk = modified) and possessor–possessed, e.g. Pat’s car

(Pat’s = possessor, car = possessed).

32
 Robert agree with the fact that, “In the discussion of the constituents of sentences,

reference has been made to nouns and noun phrases, verbs and verb phrases, and prepositions

and prepositional phrases.” He further posits that, “Nouns, verbs and prepositions are

traditionally referred to as ‘parts of speech’ or ‘word classes’; in contemporary linguistics

they are termed lexical categories”. He identify the key lexical categories to include noun,

verb, adjective, adverb and preposition. According to him, “In traditional grammar,

lexical categories are given notional definitions, i.e. they are characterized in terms of their

semantic content.” For example, noun is defined as ‘the name of a person, place or thing’,

verb is defined as an ‘action word’, and adjective is defined as ‘a word expressing a property

or attribute’. In modern linguistics, however, they are defined morphosyntactically in terms

of their grammatical properties.

The focus of Robert’s Syntax, lexical categories and morphology is basic concepts of

syntax. The study is aimed, to elucidate the principles and tools of syntactic analysis, which

make it possible for linguists to analyze the grammatical systems of human languages; and

third, to give an overview of the typological range of phenomena found in human languages,

which syntacticians seek to describe. The study like the previous does not explain individual

lexical entities, which are the building blocks of a language.

Summary of the Chapter.

This chapter has reviewed related concepts to this study, such as : Language, Syntax,

Lexical categories, Pronouns and Adjectives. The chapter also reviewed syntactic theories

especially those related to this subject matter. The theories reviewed include: Government,

Binding, Bounding, theta and trace theories. In the chapter similar works by other people are

33
reviewed. Amongs which include the work of : Orjime D.S (2004), Kpamor Dr. J.T Orkar

(2013), and Robert D. (1998).

CHAPTER THREE

Research Methodology

3.1 Area of the Study

Simply put is concerned with the internal structure of sentence; it involves the rules that

govern the combination of words into sentences. Morphology on the other hand has to do

with the internal structure of words. It studies how speech sounds are combined to form

words; it spread to cover any analysis of words or lexical categories.

Generally, design is a plan or protocol for carrying out or accomplishing something.

That is, it is an outline from which something can be done. Research design therefore, is a

plan or a blue print, which specifies how data relating to a given problem would be collected

and analyzed. Research design outline procedures for carprying out a study on a specific

subject matter. According to Nworgu, B. (2008:67). A research design will typically include

how data is to be collected, what instrument will be used and the intended means for

analysing data collected.

This study makes use of descriptive research design. This is because, the study is a

syntactic analysis of possessives in Tiv language. The researcher makes use of Descriptive

research design since it is a type of research method that is used when one wants to get

information on the current status of a person or an object. It is used to describe what is in

existence in respect to conditions or variables that are found in a given situation. This study

only seek to find what is and describes it. The generated data will be effectively analyzed

without manipulation or distortion.

3.3 Instruments and Sources of Data Collection

The researcher obtained data for this study from secondary sources. That is, data were

obtained from already existing literature like magazines, newspapes, research reports,

conferences papers, articles, textbooks, journals etc.

35
 personal observation and analysis of the Tiv possessives is done through in-depth

interview using unstructured questions, since the researcher is a native speaker of the Tiv

language.

3.4. Method of Data Collection

Data for this current study was collected through secondary methods of data collection. The

researcher made use of printed materials such as: textbooks, journals, papers, thesis and

undergraduates works. The researchers knowledge of the language was also usefull. The

researcher also collected data unstructured questions.

3.5. Method of Data Analysis

As stated above, this research restricted itself to secondary sources. Consequent upon this,

data analysis was drawn from other similar studies carried out in this field of study. The

analysis of the sentence structure of Tiv possessives are presented and analyzed based on the

researcher’s knowledge of the rules and structure of the Tiv grammar.

3.5 Theoretical Framework

Government theory, Theta theory, Binding theory, Bounding theory and Case theory.

As mentioned earlier, Government theory is the main structural idea that is central to the

GB theory. That is, many of the other theories are build upon it. Such as; Case theory, Theta

theory, the Empty Category Principle (ECP) etc. The notion of government as used in this

study, follows from the ideal of C-command. c-command is viewed variously by different

scholars based on individual prediction. For the sake of this study, the definition Reinhart
36
(1976:44), as cited in Horvath (1986:54) holds. A C (constituent)-commands B if neither A

nor B dominates the other and the first branching node which dominates A dominates B.

According to him, “the first branching node is considered to be a maximal projection” That

is, NP or VP. Government in the words of (Cf. Chomsky (1986:56).

1. A governs B if and only if

A C-commands B, and there is no

Category C, such that C is a barrier

between A and B.

Chomsky’s definition above shows that, all lexical categories ( N, V, A, P) govern all

elements contained in their maximal projections ( NP, VP, AP, P P ) . One can therefore

assume that INFL (ection) category, if it is marked [+Tense] or [+AGR(element)] can be a

governor although it is not considered as a lexical category. This accounts for the reason why

INFL is regarded as the governor of the subject of its clause.

Government enters into the statement of the Empty Category Principle (ECP),that allows

traces to be correctly governed.

2. A properly governs B if and only if

A governs B, and (a). A is a lexical category

(b). A is coindexed with B.

Generally, there is no doubt that ECP applies only to nonpronominal elements. In other

words, the principle does not hold of pronominal elements (big PRO and small

pro). The above definition states that a lexical head or a coindexed antecedent governs empty

categories.

37
The rationale behind the adaptation of these theory is because all of the above theories are

concerned with the relation among lexical entities in a sentence. That is, the rules that

govern the structure of the grammar of a language.

CHAPTER FOUR

Data Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation

38
4.1 Preamble
This chapter deals with the presentation of the findings and data of this research in the order

of the research questions stated in chapter one. In the presentation, the research work first

identifies the available possesives and their roles in the Tiv language, secondly, the

researcher identified the types of possessives in Tiv and lastly, the structure of Tiv sentences

with possessives. Discusions and interpretation or findings are done after data presentation.

4.2 Possessives in Tiv Language

The Tiv language just like other languages in the Niger-Congo language family has

possessives. Some of such possessives include:

POSSESSIVE MAKERS IN TIV

1st Person (possessives 2nd Person (possessives 3rd Person (possessives

makers) makers) makers)

Agh Ou Nagh

Yagh You Nav

Av Wou Na

Wam Yov Nam

Yam Nav

Am

Yav

Source: Kpamor (2013)

Tiv possessives are selected for a sentence to agree with other constituents (lexical classes) of

the sentence in number (singular and plural) as well as person (1 st , 2nd and 3rd person). The

39
verb and noun to which a possessive precede also determine the kind of possessive that will

be selected in a sentence. Example:

1 a. Namegh agh ku kehe

N. lap poss.+ aux+ Adj. my is fat

(My lap is fat)

b. Anam am kehe

PL. N. laps poss. +adj. my fat

(my laps are fat)

In ‘1a’ above, the possessive maker agh is selected in agreement with the noun ‘namegh’

(lap) being singular and in the 1 st person. In ‘1b’ where the noun ‘namegh’ changes to plural

as ‘anam’, another personal possessive has to be selected so as to agree with the number of

the noun in the 1st person or personal possessive, hence ‘am’. The sentences 1a and 1b are

therefore acceptable sentences in Tiv language having met the rules governing the

combination of sentences in The Tiv language. Consider the following examples also:

2a. Kwase wam

1SG. N. Wife 1st psn Poss. my

(my wife).

2b. Kasev av

PL. N. Wive 1st psn. PL. Poss. my

40
 (my wives)

This is also applicable in the 2nd and third person thus:

3a. Kwase (singular noun) wou (2nd person, singular possessive)

Wife your

(your wife)

3b. Kasev (plural noun) ou (2nd person, plural possessive)

Wives your

(Your wife).

4a. Kwase (singular noun) na (3rd person, singular possessive)

Wife his

(his wife).

4b. Kasev (plural noun)

Wives his

(His wife)

As a matter of rule, Tiv possessives come after a noun in a sentence as expressed in the

sentences above. Any placement of a Tiv possessive maker before a noun is considered as an

unacceptable sentence in the Tiv language.

41
 Orkar cited in Yina, sokpo and kuku (2020) presents classes of Tiv nouns in accordance to

the feature of DP-copula agreement. They are of the opinion that, “ there are nouns that take

hu, ki, ngi, ngu, ngu, nga, mbu, mba, mbi and ma copular verbs. Singular nouns go with ku,

ki, ngi, ngi, ngu, ngu and mbu which correspond to English is. The copulas, nga, mba, mbi

and ma agree with plural nouns. They further assert that, “NP-copula agreement is

phonologically motivated by the presence of a particular sound in the NP”.

From Tiv possessives makers in ‘4.2’above, other numerous possessives are derived to

indicate : 1st person (singular and plural), 2nd person (singular and plural), 3rd person (singular

and plural), (33) as shown in the table below.

DISTRIBUTION OF TIV PERSONAL POSSESSIVES

1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person

Copula Word Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural

Ku Nagh Agh Asegh Ou Enegh Nagh Vegh

Ki Ityamegh Yagh Yasegh You Yenegh Nagh Vegh

Mbu Kwasev Av Asev Ou Enev Nav Vev

Ngu Wan Wam Wase Wou Wen Na Ve

Ngú Dwel Wam Wasé Woú Wen Na Vé

Ngi Ishima Yam Yase You Yen Na Ve

Ngi Ikpi Yam Yasé Yoú Yen Na Vé

Ma Mngerem Am Asem Ou Enem Nam Vem

Mba Mbayev Av Asev Ou Enev Nav Vev

42
Mbi Iyou Yav Yasev Yov Yenev Nav Vev

Nga Agogo Am Ase Ou En Na Ve

The distribution/derivation of Tiv possessives above, is from nouns by way of prefixation,

where a-, en-, n-, v-, y-, and w- to the modified stem, with the application of suffix such as:

-a, -v, -en, -ev, -em, -gh, -ev, -ou, -ov, -m and –ve These inflectional suffix must show

agreement as shown above. It is found that, Tiv possessive adjective must express NP-

internal agreement as well as declension paradigms. That is to say, in Tiv, possessive must

agree with the noun they are made to modify in case and in number as clearly expressed

above. Example:

5. Agogo ase la

Pl. N. Clock Pl. poss. +det. our that

(that our clock)

It is also noticed in this example that, Tiv possessives are postnominal, The researcher

observed from findings that, Tiv possessive adjectives go against the lexical integrity

principle as stated by Anderson (1992) that, “the syntax neither manipulates nor has access

to the internal form of word”. Yina (2020: 97) assert that, Tiv possessives are only inserted

after the manipulation of syntax. The agreement between the personal possessive is triggered

by the phonological and numerical information of NP structure. The possessive adjective has

this morphological structure. [A[A[N noun stem] poss-infl]agr]

Yina (2020) further assert that,

43
 In deriving possessives in Tiv, the prossessor is projected as a DP, which

morphologically turns into an adjective, by activating an adjectival

suffixal head projected on its normal restricted. What is special is

allowing the N to project and NP after it has merged with the adjectival

suffix, whose role is to insert set of uninterpretable features, required for

concord. Such a derivation is legitimate, since, in minimalist theory,

merge simply specifies that when two categories α, β merge under a

node, δ, δ is one of the two categories

4.2.1 The Roles of Tiv Possessives in Sentences

Adjectival possessives play two principal roles in syntax: the role of possessive

determiners (more popularly called possessive adjectives. preceeding a noun, as in kwase

wam or wan na.

The role of possessive pronouns (although they may not always be called that), standing

independently in place of a noun, as in uwam is large; they prefer U Terna. As determiners.

Possessive noun phrases such as "u terna" can be used as determiners. When a form

corresponding to a personal pronoun is used as a possessive determiner.

A possessive adjective can be intensified with the word own , which can itself be either

an adjective or a pronoun: gambe u uwam , Gambe u john .

In some expressions, the possessive has itself taken on the role of a noun modifier, as in

atumba a bua (cow's milk) used rather than atumba bua ( cow milk ). It then no longer

functions as a determiner; adjectives and determiners can preceed a noun unlike the English

44
language where it can be placed before it, as in the warm cow's milk (English ) and atumba a

bua atsen (Tiv) , where idiomatically the and warm now refer to the milk, not to the cow.

As pronouns Possessives can also play the role of nouns or pronouns; namely they can

stand alone as a noun phrase , without qualifying a noun. In this role they can function as the

subject or

object of verbs, or as a complement of prepositions.

Me er tom wam , we kpa er u wou (here yours ‘u wou’ is a possessive pronoun, meaning

"your work", and standing as the object of the verb do )

Tiv possessives function to indicate ownership in Tiv sentences and utterances. They appear

in sentences to express who owns what. In the day to day communication, possessives as

lexical entities are used mainly to tell what belongs to who (ownership). Example,

1. Kwase wam va

(Woman my come)

my wife come

2. Shie na bee

(Time his finish)

His time is up

3. Ugabe vev doo

(Beds their good)

45
 Their beds are good

4. Kwaghyan wase bee

(food our finish)

Our food has finish

5. Nam wondo wou

(give me trouser yours)

Give me your trouser.

In example 1. Above, the possessive ‘wam’ underlind, function to show who owns the

woman ‘kwase’. In two, ‘na’ express that the ‘shie’ (time) talked about is of the subject’s.

And so in example: 3,4 and 5. The possessives above replace various nouns and function as

possesives as well. That is, instead of having lengthy sentences, such as:

1. Ugabe mba Terna, Tar, Kur, Betse man Mbazan doo

(bed of Terna, Tar, Kur, Betse and Mbazan good)

Terna, Tar, Kur, Betse and Mbazan’s bed are good .

2. Kwaghyan u mo Terfa man Terna bee

(Food of me Terfa and Terna finish)

My food (Terfa) and Terna is finished.

3. Shie I John bee

(time of John finish)

John’s time is finished.

46
The underlined are simply replaced with such possesives as: vev, wase and na, respectively.

This vital role performed by possesives ease communication by shorting unnecessary lengthy

sentences.

4.3. Types of Possessives in Tiv

Although the researcher observed that, there is no tight separation between possessives in the

Tiv language, Tiv possessives can best be under pronouns and adjectives. As seen in the data

presented and analyzed below:

4.3.1 Possessive pronouns:

Tiv Pronouns are used in indicating possession. Tiv possessive pronouns can be

distinguished into two classes, the one referred to as pronominal and the other that are

nominal includes; warm (my), wase (our), u na ( he’s), wou (your), and the important

grammatical features of this class is that they function as determiners. The nominal

possessive pronoun in Tiv includes; U wam (mine), uwase (ours), u wou (yours), una (he’s/

hers) and u ve (theirs).

These pronouns function strictly as nouns hence they are called ‘nominal.

However, una (his) has unique features that enable it to function as both nominal and

pronominal.

E.g. A va vea una (He came with his) (nominal)

A va aa motor na ( He came with his car). (Pronominal).

syntactically, as discussed earlier, the possessive precedes the head of NP in Tiv. Example:

47
bua wou

(cow your)

Your cow. (np)

4.3.2 Possessive Adjective

In Tiv language, possessive words or phrases exist for nouns and most pronouns, as well as

some noun phrases . These can play the roles of determiners (also called possessive

adjectives when corresponding to a pronoun) or of nouns.

In the words of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage: This dictionary also

cites a study in whose samples only 40% of the possessive forms were used to indicate actual

possession. Nouns, noun phrases, and some pronouns generally form a possessive with the

suffix -' s ( apostrophe plus s, but in some cases just by adding an apostrophe to an existing

s ). This form is sometimes called the Saxon genitive, reflecting the suffix's derivation from

Old English or Anglo-Saxon.

This is not obtainable in the Tiv language, in Tiv, possessive take the form of a full word

or a morpheme standing on its own to perform the role of a possessive.

Personal pronouns, however, have irregular possessives, and most of them have different

forms for possessive determiners and possessive pronouns, such as “wam” and “wou”

48
 Mathew (1997) defined adjective as ‘a word of a class whose most characteristics

role is as the modifier of a noun; Tiv possessive play the same role in sentences or phrases

e.g. in,

a. ibyumegh you

(stupidity your)

Your stupidity .

b. Mdoom av

(Beuty my)

My beauty.

c. Ityaven na

(tallness his/hers)

His/her tallness

d. Ichan ve

(porverty their)

Their poverty.

e. Zayor wou

(disturbance your)

Your disturbances

f. Tsembelegh na

(neatness his)

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 His/her neatness.

While possessive pronouns aptly stand for or replace pronouns In sentences making them

possessive adjectives, Possessive adjectives are determined by usage, in this sense, the

possessive marker preceding an adjective is considered a possessive adjective.

4.4 The sentence structure of Tiv Language

Tiv language like every other language is a subject +verb+object language. Tiv sentences

have various ways in which they are patterned. In this current research, close attention was

paid to such sentence varieties as: interrogative, declaratives, Imperatives and exclamatories.

Normaly, sentences are divided into subject and predicate. Of course each of any groups can

be subdivided until each word will stand out alone. In todays grammar, the subject slot is

generally known as a noun phrase while the predicate slot has the verb phrase as the

occupant. The noun phrase or the subject, as the name implies, is the topic of the sentence,

the verb phrase or predicate is the comment made about the subject. Consider the diagram

below as an example of the Tiv sentence structure.

Np vp

This current research discovered that in Tiv, sentences are divided until each word stands out

clearly or belongs to a particular part of speech. Example:

50
 N V O (NOUN)

1. Ngunan nger takerada

(N. Ngunan V. Write N. book)

Ngunan wrote a book.

2. N V O

Wan wam er kwase

(N. Son Poss. pro my V. married N. wife)

My son got married

3. N V O O

Mama na se kwaghyan

( Mama give us food)

Mama gave us food.

In sentence 1,2 and 3 it is observed that in Tiv grammar, sentences follow the order of

subject, verb and object as stated earlier. In sentence 1, for instance. The verb ‘nger’ which

indicates past tense is selected to agree with both the subject and the verb, since there is no

bariel between them, it assigns roles to the rest of the constituents of the sentences. In

sentences with possesives, the rule of concord allow the possessive to precede a noun, hence,

51
a sentence with a possessive preceding a verb as in: ‘yevese wam’ will be considered

grammatically wrong since it does not confirm to the grammatical rules of the Tiv language.

Tiv possessive are formed taking into consideration the noun clauses, and they change with
the personal pronouns. The rules of concord permeates the nouns to come before the
possessive pronouns. Consider the following Tiv possessives put into various sentences.

1.The 1st person

a) Singular:

(1) Singular possessive

Noun class Noun pronoun Example

Ku Wegh Agh Wegh agh (Hand mine-My hand/arm).

Ki Ityogh Yagh Ityogh yagh (Head mine-my head)

(2) plural/

Collective possessive

Noun class Noun Pronoun Example

Mbi Ikyav Yav Ikyav yav (Goods mine – My goods)

Nga Akaa Am Akaa am

Things/belongings mine – My
things/ belongings).

It is observed from the above data that, Sentences with Tiv possessive are formed

taking into consideration the noun clauses, and they change with the personal pronouns. If for

instance, the possessive pronoun is in a singular form and of first person possessive, then a

singular noun class like ‘ku’ , ‘ki’ etc are selected to obey the rules of concord. But, when the
52
possessive pronoun is a personal pronoun and but in a plural form, a plural noun class like

‘mbi’ or ‘Nga’ are selected as can be seen in the data above, The rules of concord permeates

the nouns to come before the possessive pronouns.

There are exceptions in the use of wam possessive pronoun. Instead of wam, m is used.

It has been tradition that the pronoun m is joined to the noun, thus:

Nomom ( nom m) - Husband mine – My husband.

Terem (ter m) - Father mine – My father.

b) plural :

(1) Singular possessive

Noun class Noun pronoun Example

Ngu Kpatema Wase Kpatema Wase (Cat ours – Our

cat).

Ngi Iyange Yase Iyange yase (Days ours – Our

day).

(2) plural:

Singular possessive

Noun class Noun pronoun Example

Mbi Iyov Yasev Iyov yasev (Yams ours-Our

yams).

Nga Akaa Ase Akaa ase (Things/Belongings

53
 ours - Our things/belongings).

It is observed that, if the subject of the sentence is in plural form, a plural possessive maker is

selected to agree with it, in example, (1) above of instance ‘kpatuma’ (N. cat) is said to

belong to more than one person, hence, a plural possessive maker ‘wase’ is selected. It is also

noticed that, if the noun class and the noun in a sentence ends with the sound /j/ as in: ‘ngi’

and ‘yange’ then the possessive pronoun that begins with the /j/ sound ‘yase’ is selected. That

is to say, plurality and singularity of the noun class, noun determines the kind of possessive

nto be adopted.

It was also noticed that, if a possessive pronoun precedes a noun that ends with the

suffix /v/ indicating plurality, e.g iyov the suffix (plural maker) /v/ is inflected on the

possessive as in: ‘yasev’ is selected to agree with the noun in accordance with the

concordance rules of Tiv grammar and they are said to belong to the ‘mbi’ noun class.

If the noun begins with the vowel sound /a/ and ends with the vowel sound /a/ it belongs

to the ‘nga’ noun class and the possessive beginning with the vowel sound /a/ is selected, E.G

‘ase’ in example (2) above.

2. The 2nd person

a) Singular:

Singular possessive

Noun class Noun pronoun Example

Ku Togh Ou Togh ou (Staff yours-Your staff).

Ki Inyaregh You Iyaregh you (Money yours –

Your Money).
54
(2) plural /

Collective possessive

Noun class Noun pronoun Example

Mba Ior Ou Ior ou (People yours – Your

people).

Nga Aeren Ou Aeren ou (Behaviours yours –

– Your behaviours).

Here too there are exceptions in the use of wou possessive pronoun. Instead of wou, u is
used, thus : Anngou (Anngo u) - Relation (brother, sister, uncle, aunt,
cousin, niece, or neph-ew ) yours – Your relation (brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, niece,
or nephew).

The data presented above prove that, Tiv language is an S +V+ O (subject +Verb

+Object). Noun + (Det) + Verb (complement) as in declarative sentences. That is, in Tiv

declarative sentence, the noun comes before its determiner, where the two co-occur and then

the verb. A sentence may also have a simple subject devoid of all words that go with it to

make it a complete subject. The noun +Determiner arrangement applies in all Noun Phrase in

Tiv, irrespective of whether such a noun phrase is in the subject or object position.

One structural pattern of Tiv imperative sentences in the action – only category consist of

a pattern of a base form verb and optional adverbs of place , manner, and time. When the

base form verb occurs alone, we observe such imperative as:

(V.Go) (leave) (Dance) (play) (Write)

When a verb co-occurs with adverb, the adverbs occur in the order given in the structural

descriptive above. Consider the following examples:

2. Za fele fele

(V.Go adjp quick Redp. quick)

Go quickly

3. Vine tsembelee

(N.Dance adj. well)

Dance well

Tiv possessives occur or precede pronouns and take different forms in accordance with 1 st

, 2nd and 3rd person singular and plural.

56
 CHAPTER FIVE

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations

5.1 Summary.

Language is essentially a human phenomenon that is present wherever human beigns

exist. This is evidence in the reasons linguist show commitment to the investigation

into the nature of language. Language is the most crucial and sensitive aspect of

humanity.

The study or analysis of language by linguist is grouped into three basic units,

forms or levels as : Sound (further grouped into : phonetics and phonology). Meaning

(semantics and pragmatics). Form or structure (morphology and syntax). The last

segment mentioned is the paramount concern of this research. Morphology is

concerned with the study of word formation, it expands to cover the various

categories into which words are grouped. Syntax on the other hand, is concerned with

the study of how words are combined into sentences. These two combined form the

grammar of a language. Radford (1990:1) is of the opinion that,

We might therefore characterize grammar as the study of the

principles which govern the formation and interpretation of words,

phrases and sentences.

A study such as this which cuts across both morphology and syntax could be said to

belong to morph syntax.

The study seeked to identify and analyse Tiv possessives, types of Tiv

possessives, roles and the syntactic structure of the Tiv language. The researcher

57
 therefore concentrated on the investigation and finding of data to answer the research

questions below: i. What are possessives in Tiv language and their roles?. ii What are the

types of possessives in Tiv? iii What is the sentence structure of Tiv?

To successfully do this, the researcher employed the theory of government and binding

theory proponed by Chomsky (1986:56). Which holds that,

1. A governs B if and only if

A C-commands B, and there is no

Category C, such that C is a barrier

between A and B.

Chomsky’s definition above shows that, all lexical categories ( N, V, A, P) govern all

elements contained in their maximal projections ( NP, VP, AP, P P ) . One can therefore

assume that INFL (ection) category, if it is marked [+Tense] or [+AGR(eement)] can be a

governor although it is not considered as a lexical category. This accounts for the reason why

INFL is regarded as the governor of the subject of its clause.

Government enters into the statement of the Empty Category Principle (ECP),that allows

traces to be correctly governed.

2. A properly governs B if and only if

A governs B, and (a). A is a lexical category

(b). A is coindexed with B.

Generally, there is no doubt that ECP applies only to nonpronominal elements. In other

words, the principle does not hold of pronominal elements (big PRO and small

58
pro). The above definition states that a lexical head or a coindexed antecedent governs empty

categories.

The study was able to figure out the following Tiv possesives :

POSSESSIVE MAKERS IN TIV

1st Person (possessives 2nd Person (possessives 3rd Person (possessives

makers) makers) makers)

Agh Ou Nagh

Yagh You Nav

Av Wou Na

Wam Yov Nam

Yam Nav

Am

Yav

Source: Kpamor (2018:54)

The study also reviewed that, Tiv possessive are formed taking into consideration the noun
clauses, and they change with the personal pronouns. The nouns come before the possessive
pronouns. Example,

Ku Wegh Agh Wegh agh (Hand mine-My hand/arm).

Ki Ityogh Yagh Ityogh yagh (Head mine-my head)

Mbi Ikyav Yav Ikyav yav (Goods mine – My goods)

Nga Akaa Am Akaa am

59
 Things/belongings mine – My
things/ belongings).

It is also observed in the study that, Tiv possessives perform the chief function of showing

ownership. The study points out that, Tiv language is a subject +verb + object. As in,

Ngunan nger takerada

(Ngunan Write book)

Ngunan wrote a book.

5.2 Conclusion.

The Tiv language just like some other language has possessives makers to indicate ownership

in Tiv sentences.

Although there is no tight separation as to the types of Tiv possessives, possessives in

Tiv just like most African languages are divided into: possessive pronouns and possessive

adjectives.

Following the data presented and analysed in four above, we can also conclude that, Tiv is

a subject + verb +object (SVO) language. Although the positions or arrangement can

change, such that sometimes only a noun or word can form a sentence as in ‘Terngu’,

‘Aondonguter’ and sometimes V+O, etc.

It is also pertinent to note that, Tiv possessive are formed taking into consideration the

noun clauses, and they change with the personal pronouns. The nouns come before the

possessive pronouns. And in the case of adjectives, the possesives preceed adjectives.

5.3 Recommendation.

60
The essence of every research is the acquisition of new knowledge which either modifies the

already existing one or adds to it. This study therefore makes the following

recommendations.

1. For the continuity and threats of language extinction on minority languages in

Nigeria. Tiv native speakers and or scholars should show more concern in the

promotion of their language. Since the efforts of few individuals may hardly bring the

Tiv language to the expected level of development.

2. There are few research on the syntax of Tiv language, especially as regards putting

Tiv possessives in the syntactic structure of the Tiv Language. Tiv speakers should

put in more interest on this area of the Language.

3. Research or reference materials on the Tiv language are inadequate, even the

available ones are hardly assessable by the public or researchers. Writers and

publishers should produce primers, dictionaries, and books on Tiv literature,

grammar, syntax, phonology, morphology and possessives. These materials should be

made available both in print (in libraries and book shops) and soft copies (free sites

online or internet) for easy assessability.

4. The Tiv language should be made a compulsory and general course (GST) in the

university. So as to enhance improvement of speakers and learners usage of the

language. Restricting it to an elective course in the department of languages and

linguistics is not enough.

5. The Government should also give special grants to all students of Tiv language in the

universities, college of education etc.

61
 6. The departments in faculty of arts and humanities as well as students departmental

associations should make it a pariority to organize seminers and workshops on Tiv

language language, especially the structural part of it. For teachers and students, so as

to equip them with the necessary knowledge of the language.

7. All students researching on the syntactic area of Tiv language should be awarded very

high grades for the zeal to develop not just their language but the most tasking part of

it (syntax). In other to encourage more research in this area of the language.

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