AN ANALYSIS OF SOME MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN EDO LANGUAGE

This study specifically seeks to identify the major morphological processes in the language, analyze how they operate using examples from native speakers, identify their semantic functions, and describe the structural patterns and rules governing their use. The study is anchored on the Item- and-Arrangement theoretical framework, which explains how morphemes combine systematically to form complex words. Data for the study were collected through oral interviews with native Edo speakers and from written Edo texts. The sample population comprised adult native speakers of Edo language drawn from Benin City and its environs. The findings reveal that Edo employs several productive morphological processes such as affixation (prefixation, suffixation, circumfixation, and suprafixation), reduplication, compounding, and infixation. These processes play significant roles in deriving new words, marking grammatical categories, and extending meaning. The study further shows that tonal variation functions as a suprafix, affecting word meaning and grammatical distinctions. The need for this study arises from the relative lack of detailed morphological description of Edo despite its linguistic richness. The hypothesis that Edo morphological processes are rule-governed and structurally patterned was confirmed. In conclusion, the study contributes to the understanding of Edo morphology and provides a basis for further linguistic research on Niger-Congo language.