Department of Linguistics
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- ItemAn optimality analysis of Òwórò Vowel Harmony(2013) Maduagwu, G. O. & Isaiah, Adebola. A.Oworo, spoken by some people in the North-West of Lokoja Local Government Area, Kogi State of Nigeria, is one of the Yoruboid languages yet to be systematically and comprehensively phonologically researched. This study examines the vowel harmony of Oworo using the optimality theoretical (OT) framework with a view to establishing the descriptive and explanatory adequacies of OT for Oworo data. The work shows the application of OT to Oworo data giving a new perspective to the phonological process of Oworo vowel harmony. Different from previous generative theories, OT does not derive phonetic representation from underlying representation via a set of rules. Rather, for any particular word, many forms are generated at the outset, and the job of the theory is to select from the many forms only that form that indeed occurs in the language. Using OT, a systematic, comprehensive analysis of Oworo vowel harmony is achieved, thus solving the unresolved problems of earlier theories adequately. This is because linguistic well-formedness is a matter of comparison or competition among candidate output forms. The analysis of vowel harmony presented has shown that constraints are neither imposed on inputs nor on the mapping between inputs and outputs. This study reveals that right-edge harmony can be violated in Oworo vowel harmony system. Harmony targets the rightmost "eligible" anchors and not necessarily the "rightmost" anchor absolutely. The study has been able to establish the descriptive and explanatory adequacies of OT account of vowel harmony for Oworo data, over previous generative theories.
- ItemAn exploration of aspects of spatial metaphors in Standard Yoruba(University of Ilorin, Nigeria., 2020) OLOSO YESEERA OMONIKEWithout doubt, meaning plays a central role in language use. However, semantic discourse on the place of metaphors generally, and spatial metaphors specifically, is a polarised one. Using native speaker’s intuition and participant observation as data elicitation tools from spatial metaphors in Standard Yorùbá, this study aligns with the position of cognitive semanticists that metaphors are not extraneous elements in language that require special skills to articulate and/or understand. Hence, this study investigates how native Yorùbá speakers use spatial metaphors as a conceptual process in mapping connections across domains and within domains. The paper is therefore, twofold. The first part takes a look at spatial metaphors and how Yorùbá speakers embed in them, cultural conceptualisations about space which facilitates the mapping of highness and lowness onto non-spatial domains. The nature of this embeddedness is such that equally produces the association of positive and negative images to these spaces respectively. The second part which focuses on a few exceptions to the rule, brings to the fore, instances where spatial metaphors in the Yorùbá Language act quite to the contrary of the general rule. Findings from this study show that spatial metaphors in the Yorùbá Language are part of the general cognition of native speakers for which they require no special knowledge for competence and performance.
- ItemStandard Yoruba morphological patterns as variation markers of the Nigerian Pidgin English(Yoruba: Journal of Yoruba Studies Association of Nigeria. Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan., 2022) OLOSO YESEERA OMONIKEThe Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE) is a contact language that has the English Language as its superstrate and Nigerian Languages as its substrates. With the former contributing the bulk of its lexicon, this paper seeks to show the influence that the grammar of Nigerian languages, in this case, the Yorùbá Language, has on the structure of the NPE to the extent that the meaning of Yorùbá words have a greater reflection on the compounding patterns of the NPE than that of the English Language. The grammatical influence of the Yorùbá Language on the NPE equally makes it possible for a morphological pattern such as reduplication that is non-existent in the English Language but which exits in the Yorùbá Language, to feature prominently in the grammar of the NPE. Being a descriptive work, this paper seeks to shed light on the points of convergence between the operations of these morphological patterns in the NPE and the Yorùbá Language and the points of divergence between them and the English Language. The paper concludes that the similarity of grammatical structures of the NPE and the Yorùbá Language contributes to its easy acquisition by Yorùbá people in particular and Nigerians in general, when compared with their acquisition of the English Language.
- ItemSonorant acquisition in Yorùbá child phonology(2023) Adebola A. IsaiahThis study examines the acquisition of oral consonantal sonorants by Yorùbá children. Extant studies on phonological acquisition have concentrated on stages of attainment, with little attention paid to the corresponding patterns between child articulation and the target language. This study analyzed sonorant simplification patterns during Yorùbá acquisition. One child was purposively selected for longitudinal assessment (from their age 1 to age 4), while 50 children, ages 2 to 5, were stratified random sampled for cross-sectional assessment at various locations familiar to the participants. All children participants were ages 1 to 5 and lived in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria. Using the classic assumptions of phonemes and Optimality theory (OT), data were subjected to a phonological analysis. Findings showed that there is the emergence of segmental markedness constraints as well as an interface between phonetics and phonology in the outcome of a child’s sound inventory at each developmental stage. We argued that developmental patterns have stage-based variations. It was found that substitution of consonantal sonorants is done with another consonantal sonorants but not obstruents and in some instances, sonorant deletion occurs.
- ItemVocabulary development and biliteracy in Yorùbá and English among young bilinguals(2023) Adebola A. Isaiahn Nigeria and other countries in West Africa, English, French, and Portuguese languages are acquired or learned and used alongside the indigenous languages for various communication purposes as applicable. Previous studies have noted that Yorùbá language does not have an equal usage as being critical for bilingual mastery attainment as the English language. This study examines literacy development patterns among typically developing Yorùbá-English bilingual children to further our understanding of oral and literacy proficiency. Based on qualitative methods, cross-sectional data were obtained. Oral and literacy data were acquired by interview, specialized wordlist, written texts, and pictorial objects. Children were purposively selected for a stratified assessment as representative of their literacy levels (3 aged 2-3, 4 aged 4-6, and 5 aged 7- 10). All participants were ages 2 to 10 years and lived in Ilorin metropolis. Data were subjected to descriptive analysis. Based on experiments, for instance, if the stimulus are words, the results showed that the word frequencies in the two languages do not enjoy the same value outcome, English >> Yorùbá. Significant outcomes showed that literacy in English language is on the positive end of the spectrum while literacy in Yorùbá language is on the opposite end. Most of the children paid more attention to English tasks, hence performed above average. Using the different age groups and educational levels as a continuum, it was generally observed that literacy depends largely on a child’s cognitive alertness. The study concludes by linking the obvious gap in the initial observation to foundation lapses.
- ItemCode-switching as a strategy of invasive language use on Instagram(2024) Adebola A. IsaiahCode-switching, (and code-mixing or any form of juxtaposing), a phenomenon characteristic of bilingual speech, has become more notable in writing with the advent of social media. This study investigates the use of words and expressions considered unacceptable by the Community Guidelines of social media applications by focusing on the evasive use of indigenous Nigerian languages on Instagram, a social media platform. Expressions that are considered ‘undesirable’ come up more consistently in indigenous languages when compared to their English equivalents. Thus, there is more code-switching/mixing on the platform than traditionally assumed. Extant studies on code-switching have addressed the phenomenon from the learning, interactional and expressive perspectives, but the discussion on its evasive use on social media platforms has not been equally addressed. Such studies mainly focused on the positive functions of CS. This study employs a corpus method of data collection to gather texts from purposively selected accounts and uses the discourse analysis framework to identify the strategies that foster evasive language use. The findings identify the negative function of CS and writing in an indigenous language as evasive strategies employed by Nigerian Instagram users in their social media posts.
- ItemA case for Yorùbá study abroad in multilingual and multicultural context(2024) Sanuth, K. K., Olawuyi, H. O. & Isaiah, Adebola. A.This paper examines the potential of Ilorin, located in the North Central of Nigeria as a site for Yoruba language study abroad programs. While Yoruba cities like Ibadan and Ife are typically favored for Yoruba learning programs, the paper argues that Ilorin's unique linguistic landscape and multicultural environment present similar immersive language learning opportunities to cities in South-West Nigeria. Applying the conceptual insight of Linguistic Landscape (Landry & Bourhis, 1997), the paper contends that Ilorin's multilingual environment, featuring Yoruba alongside English, Arabic, and other Nigerian languages, can provide students with a nuanced understanding of Yoruba language and culture within a broader Nigerian context.
- ItemProsodic analysis of noun class markers in the syntax of Batonu language(2024) Adebola A. IsaiahThe grammatical derivation of languages varies, leading to language specificity. In particular, languages with noun classes have unique methods of realizing them through prefixing and sometimes suffixing, such as in the Bàtọ̀nu language. This study focuses on the interface between syntax and phonology in the grammatical realization of the noun class system in the Bàtọ̀nu language, spoken in the Baruteen Local Government Area of Kwara State in Nigeria. Interviews were conducted to gather data, supplemented by secondary sources. Theoretical principles from Government and Binding Theory (GB) and Autosegmental Phonology were used to represent sentence structure and the tonal analysis of the data. Previous research established that the language has seven noun class markers (NCM). We found that phonological features, such as labialization, nasalization, and tone, can influence and determine the grammatical functions of class markers in languages that attest to them. In the case of Bàtọ́nu NCM, the tone is the determining factor. We assume that the class markers are unmarked at the underlying representaion (UR), and when a floating high tone (HT) is assigned to the NCM underlyingly, they function as class markers. When a floating mid-tone (MT) is assigned, they become relative clause marker variants, and when in contact with the HT focus morpheme -á in focus constructions in the language, they function as focus marker variants.
- ItemO-ní Prefix Surname Markers among Ilorin-Yoruba People: A Socio-Onomastics Analysis with Implications for Yoruba Language Pedagogy(Indiana University Press, 2024-07-20) H.O. Olawuyi and Ridwan Akinkunmi RABIUThis study investigates the sociolinguistic variables involved in the derivation of "O-ní"-derived personal names among the Ilorin-Yoruba people, highlighting their role as identity markers within this community. The paper analyzes the convergence and divergence of naming practices among different sub-groups of the Yoruba tribe, employing qualitative research methods that draw on both primary and secondary sources. Utilizing the socio-onomastic theory of names, the research reveals that while "O-ní" related personal names are present across various Yoruba towns, they are particularly prevalent among Ilorin-Yoruba indigenes, serving as distinctive markers of identity. The findings indicate that these names facilitate historical construction and reconstruction, reflecting the social life of the Ilorin-Yoruba, including culture, religion, history, and intra- and inter-tribal relationships. The study classifies "O-ní" related Ilorin-Yoruba personal names into six categories: (i) material culture-derived, (ii) social status-derived, (iii) profession-derived, (iv) flora and fauna-derived, (v) religious items-derived, and (vi) historical accounts-derived. In conclusion, the research underscores the importance of indigenous names as a valuable cultural inheritance that must be treasured and preserved. The implications for Yoruba language pedagogy are significant, as understanding these sociolinguistics dimensions can enhance language education and cultural awareness among learners.