Godson Odenose IRAOYA

This study, titled Comparative Assessment of Antonyms in Udi Dialect of Igbo, investigates the nature, structure, and dialectal realization of antonymy within the Udi dialect, with comparative reference to Standard Igbo. The research was motivated by the need to describe how oppositional meaning, a key component of semantic organization, manifests across dialectal variations within the Igbo language. Despite extensive studies on Igbo grammar and phonology, little attention has been given to the comparative semantics of dialects, particularly in the area of antonymy. The study employed both Lexical Semantic Theory and Dialectological Theory as its analytical frameworks. The Lexical Semantic Theory provided a structural explanation for meaning opposition within the lexicon, while the Dialectological Theory accounted for the influence of regional variation on phonological and morphological realization. Data were obtained through oral elicitation from ten native speakers of the Udi dialect and analyzed qualitatively. The collected data were grouped into four categories of antonyms—gradable, complementary, relational, and contextual—to capture the full semantic range of oppositional relationships. Findings revealed that antonymy in the Udi dialect operates within a highly systematic semantic structure comparable to that of Standard Igbo. The dialect demonstrates strong semantic stability but exhibits phonological and morphological reduction, characterized by syllable shortening, tonal simplification, and vowel elision. Across all categories, oppositional meanings remained constant, indicating that dialectal variation in Igbo affects form rather than meaning. The study concludes that antonymy serves as both a structural constant and a dialectal identifier within Igbo, confirming the resilience of meaning relations across linguistic varieties. It is therefore recommended that further research extend comparative analysis to other Igbo dialects to build a more comprehensive understanding of meaning relations and to support the preservation of dialectal diversity within the Igbo language.