DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS

The aim of this study was to examine selected Igbo proverbs with a view to understanding how cultural and thematic meanings are embedded within them. The objective of the study is to identify common themes in Igbo proverbs, and explore the cultural messages they convey. Using semiotics and ethnography of communication approaches, the data for this study were collected by oral interviews with native Igbo speakers. The findings of the study reveal that Igbo proverbs are rich in cultural values, moral teachings, and traditional wisdom. The study shows that the themes embedded in the proverbs reflect societal beliefs on truth, social control, wisdom, hospitality and patience. It concludes that Igbo proverbs serve as linguistic tools for preserving culture and transmitting moral values across generations. Most of the proverbs carry deep meaning that comes from the Igbo culture and are used in everyday interactions to teach, correct, and advise, thereby reflecting the worldview of the Igbo people.

This study examines the morpho-semantic features of Yoruba personal names with the aim of uncovering the linguistic structures and cultural meanings they carry. In Yoruba society, naming is a deeply significant practice that goes beyond identification; it communicates parental hopes, historical experiences, social realities, and religious beliefs. Names act as linguistic expressions of identity and often serve as short narratives that reflect the circumstances surrounding a child’s birth, the expectations of the family, and the collective traditions of the people. The research adopts a descriptive and analytical approach. Data were collected from oral interviews with native speakers, collections of Yoruba names in dictionaries, and relevant scholarly works. The analysis considers the morphological composition of the names, focusing on processes such as compounding, derivation, reduplication, and clause contraction. On the semantic level, the study classifies the names into groups such as the ophoric names that reference God or deities, destiny-related names that reflect fate or reincarnation, circumstantial names tied to birth conditions, proverbial names that carry moral or philosophical lessons, and praise names that express admiration or endearment. The findings show that Yoruba personal names are not random words but meaningful linguistic units that preserve and transmit cultural values. The morpho-semantic analysis reveals that names function as cultural texts, offering insight into Yoruba belief systems, family relations, and social values. The study concludes that Yoruba personal names, through their structure and meaning, provide a rich source of information about the Yoruba people and demonstrate the close relationship between language, culture, and identity

Polygamous households create unique communicative environments where language functions as a medium for expressing power, negotiating relationships, and reinforcing or challenging social order. This study examines patterns of language use among the four wives in the harem of Mr. Osaro Obaze in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The central problem addressed is the lack of sociolinguistic studies on domestic communication in Nigerian polygamous families, despite their prevalence. The main aim is to explore how language reflects hierarchy, rivalry, and cooperation in a multilingual family context. The research is guided by Dell Hymes’ Ethnography of Communication(THE SPEAKINGMODEL), which provides a framework for analyzing how speech events and communicative practices function within cultural settings. Data were collected through participant observation, interviews, and audio recordings of daily interactions and also spending time with the family. Findings reveal forty categories of language use, ranging from directive and competitive speech to collaborative and affectionate communication. The senior wife receives linguistic deference through honorifics, while strategic code-switching between Edo, Nigerian Pidgin English, and Standard English serves as a tool for inclusion, exclusion, and conflict negotiation. The study concludes that language in the harem is both a marker of hierarchy and a resource for managing relationships. It recommends further comparative research on language and gender in African polygamous households.

This study investigates serial verb constructions (SVCs) in the Enuani dialect of Igbo, with a focus on sequentialisation the linear ordering of verbs within a single clause without overt conjunctions or subordination. By analyzing the syntactic and semantic mechanisms underpinning sequentialisation, the research explores its functional utility in argument sharing, event conceptualization, and the formation of serial predicates. Primary data was gathered through a combination of digital linguistic corpora and interviews with a native Enuani speaker, enabling fine-grained analysis of naturally occurring SVCs. Findings reveal that sequentialisation serves as a critical narrative device in Enuani Igbo, streamlining complex event descriptions through linguistic economy. By eliminating redundant syntactic markers, it enhances discourse efficiency while preserving semantic coherence. This work contributes to understudied aspects of Niger-Congo syntax, addressing gaps in the documentation of Igbo SVCs and enriching typological discussions of serial verb phenomena. Its significance extends to both African linguistics and broader theoretical debates about clause structure and predicate coordination, offering insights into how non-configurational languages achieve syntactic complexity through verb serialization.

This study examines selected aspects of morphological processes in the Arabic language, focusing on the root-and-pattern system, inflectional structures, derivational morphology, and morphophonemic observations. Arabic, as a Semitic language, employs a unique morphological framework where words are derived from triliteral and quadriliteral roots, interacting with specific patterns to form various grammatical structures. The study is anchored in a dual theoretical framework, integrating classical Arabic grammar (ṣarf) as developed by Sībawayh (8th century CE) with modern linguistic theories, including inflectional morphology (Greenberg, 1963) and derivational morphology (Chomsky, 1957). The research adopts a qualitative analytical approach, utilizing primary sources such as Al-Kitāb by Sībawayh, classical Arabic dictionaries, and modern linguistic databases like the Buckwalter Arabic Morphological Analyzer. Fieldwork with native Arabic speakers was also incorporated to validate findings. Key findings highlight the efficiency and productivity of the root-and-pattern system, demonstrating how a limited set of roots generates a vast lexicon while maintaining semantic consistency. Inflectional processes were found to play a crucial role in Arabic grammar, affecting verb conjugation, noun declension, tense, aspect, number, and case marking. Additionally, derivational morphology contributes to Arabic’s lexical expansion through prefixation, suffixation, and pattern modifications. The study also identifies morphophonemic alternations, such as vowel shifts and assimilation, as essential mechanisms shaping Arabic word formation. Despite its structured system, Arabic morphology presents challenges in natural language processing (NLP), language acquisition, and comparative linguistics due to its nonlinear morphology and extensive morphophonemic variations. The study concludes that integrating traditional Arabic linguistic principles with modern computational models can enhance linguistic research, language teaching methodologies, and AI-based Arabic text processing. The research contributes to Arabic linguistics, morphology, and computational language studies, serving as a foundation for further exploration of Arabic word structure, dialectal variations, and applications in linguistic technology.

This study investigates phonological interference in the pronunciation of English words among Edo-English bilingual speakers. It examines how the Edo language influences the articulation of English sounds, leading to pronunciation variations. Using the contrastive analysis framework, the research compares the phonological structures of Edo and English to identify patterns of interference.
Data were collected through audio recordings and interviews involving 20 Edo-English bilingual speakers pronouncing selected English words. A list of 50 English words and 50 Edo words was compiled, representing various phonological patterns. The informants, selected based on their language proficiency, age, and educational background, were asked to pronounce each word on the list. One of the interviews was conducted in a market setting, where a female trader was met and agreed to participate in the study. The wordlist used in this interview consisted of words related to her daily activities, such as items she sells (e.g., vegetables, fruits, cloth), objects she sees around her (e.g., market stalls, customers, money), and actions she performs (e.g., buying,
selling, counting). This approach allowed for a more natural and spontaneous data collection process, as the informant was able to respond to words and phrases that were familiar to her. The audio recordings were transcribed, and the data was analyzed using phonological analysis.
Analysis revealed several phonological interference patterns, including sound substitution, vowel length distortion, spelling-based pronunciation, consonant cluster reduction, sound insertion and deletion, nasalization, and stress pattern alterations. For instance, Edo speakers frequently replaced English sounds absent in Edo phonology, such as substituting /θ/ in third with /t/ (/tεd/ instead of /θɜ:d /). Consonant clusters were simplified, as seen in basket pronounced as /baskεt/. Additionally, spelling pronunciation errors occurred, such as picture /pikʧər/ being pronounced as /pikso/.
The study concludes that phonological interference arises due to structural differences between the two languages, reinforcing the contrastive analysis hypothesis. These findings have implications for language teaching, pronunciation training, and second language acquisition. The study recommends targeted phonetic drills and increased exposure to native English pronunciation to help Edo-English bilinguals improve their phonological accuracy. Keywords: Phonological Interference, Edo-English Bilinguals, Pronunciation, Contrastive Analysis, Second-Language Phonology