ESAN

This study examined negation strategies in the Irrua variety of Ésàn. The aim of the research was to investigate the negation strategies in Irrua, by identifying the negation markers used in the dialect. Also, to examine the syntactic positions of negation markers in Irrua sentence structures, and analyze how negation is realized in Irrua when applied to other construction-specific rules. The motivation for this study is to showcase the various negation markers in the Irrua variety of Ésàn. The method of data collection was both primary and secondary. The primary source for data collection involved 6 native speakers of Irrua, specifically elderly and linguistically competent individuals who possess fluent command of the traditional and contemporary use of Irrua. The secondary sources such as published grammars, previous research works, language textbooks, and online linguistic resources on Ésàn language were also consulted to provide a broader perspective and to support the elicited data. The theoretical framework used for the research was Chomsky's X-bar theory of (1970). The findings revealed that negation in the Irrua variety of Ésàn employs lexical strategies, with four distinct negation markers used based on tense and context. These markers consistently appear before the verb, maintaining a fixed NEG–V structure. Furthermore, negation integrates seamlessly with complex syntactic processes such as passivization, relativization, and reflexivization, without altering sentence structure. This highlights the systematic and flexible nature of negation strategies in the Irrua variety of Ésàn. The research recommends further study on this research work and areas not touched in this research work or any aspect of negation strategies in Irrua Variety of Ésàn language or Ésàn language in general be carried out by scholars, linguists and any other person interested in the syntax of Irrua and Ésàn Language