P. Usenbo

This study investigates Ẹdo personal names from a morpho-semantic perspective to show how the internal structure of names and the cultural context of the Ẹdo people work together to create meaning. Data for the study were collected through oral interviews with native speakers and from published sources. The names were analyzed using basic morphological description and the Principle of Compositionality, which states that the meaning of a complex word is derived from the meanings of its parts.
The findings reveal that Ẹdo names are not mere labels but meaningful expressions that reflect the people’s worldview, beliefs, and social values. The study shows that Ẹdo names come from several sources, including kinship, birth circumstances, personal traits, religious beliefs, and the cultural understanding of destiny and reincarnation. Each category of names carries messages about identity, family structure, moral behavior, spirituality, and the historical pride of the Ẹdo people. The analysis demonstrates that Ẹdo names serve as tools for preserving cultural heritage, transmitting values, and reinforcing the social structure of the community. This work contributes to existing knowledge by providing a detailed linguistic analysis of Ẹdo anthroponyms and by showing how language encodes cultural knowledge. It also emphasizes the need to document and preserve Ẹdo names for future generations, as they remain an important part of the people’s linguistic and cultural identity.

This research examines cohesion and coherence in Yoruba discourse, studying song texts used in Yoruba engagement ceremony. Cohesion is both the grammatical and lexical linking of sentences in a text. This is related to the concept of coherence, which deals with meaningfulness. The aim of this study is to examine how this concept of cohesion and coherence is achieved in the Yoruba discourse. The need of this study is for other linguists and interested researchers to know and understand how cohesion and coherence functions and achieved in both the Yoruba discourse and other African languages. The data collection technique for this research adopted both the primary and secondary method of data collection. The primary data collection techniques used to collect data by adopting the non- participant observation, I used writing, video recording and audio recording materials to gather data. I used the secondary data collection technique to gather secondary data and materials from libraries, internets and textbooks

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

This study presents a comparative phonological analysis of Ẹdo and Ikwerre, two Niger- Congo languages spoken in Ẹdo State and Rivers State, Nigeria, respectively. While both languages share historical and typological connections within the Niger-Congo family, their phonological systems exhibit significant diferences in segmental features, phonotactic structures, and phonological processes.The study aims to identify and analyze these diferences and similarities,focusing on their consonantal and vowel inventories, phonological rules, and prosodic features. The study adopts Comparative Phonology (Hyman, 1975) as its theoretical framework, providing a systematic approach to examining the phonological structures of the two languages. Data were collected through primary sources from native speakers and secondary sources from previous linguistic research.The analysis reveals that Ẹdo employs Advanced Tongue Root (ATR) vowel harmony, while Ikwerre exhibits nasalization and prenasalized consonants. Ikwerre's phonology is characterized by aspirated stops and glottalized sounds. Additionally, phonological processes such as assimilation, vowel harmony operate dif erently in both languages, further highlighting their phonological distinctiveness. The findings contribute to the classification of Ẹdo as an Ẹdoid language and Ikwerre as an Igboid language, reinforcing their unique
phonological identities within the Benue-Congo subgroup. The study also underscores the importance of phonological comparison in understanding language evolution, historical linguistics, and linguistic typology. Future research could explore the morphophonemic interactions, tonal variations, and language contact influences af ecting Ẹdo and Ikwerr

This study aims to explore the role of Ẹdo folktales in preserving the cultural heritage of
the Edo people. The objectives of the study are to examine how Ẹdo folktales reflect the
cultural values, beliefs, and traditions of the Ẹdo people, analyze the impact of
modernization and globalization on the transmission of Ẹdo folktales, and lastly, identify
strategies for preserving and documenting Ẹdo folktales to ensure their continued
relevance in the future. The research adopted a qualitative approach, utilizing various
methods to collect and analyze data. Firstly, an extensive review of existing literature, including scholarly articles, books, and online resources, was conducted to gain a
comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. Additionally, fieldwork was
undertaken to collect primary data, which involved interviewing knowledgeable
individuals within the Ẹdo community. The collected data was then analyzed using
content analysis techniques to derive meaningful insights and interpretations. The
theoretical framework employed for this research is the ethnography of communication
(SPEAKING model) introduced by Hymes (1964). Findings revealed that Ẹdo folklores
serve as vital vessels for cultural values such as loyalty, bravery, and leadership. While
modernization and globalization pose challenges to their transmission, the core values
within these stories remain significant. Efforts like integrating these tales into education, documenting them, and promoting storytelling festivals are essential for preserving their
relevance for future generations. The research concludes that Ẹdo folklores serve as vital
vessels for cultural values such as loyalty, bravery, and leadership. While modernization
and globalization pose challenges to their transmission, the core values within these
stories remain significant. Efforts like integrating these tales into education, documenting them, and promoting storytelling festivals are essential for preserving their relevance for future generations. The research recommends further studies in this particular area and any aspect not touched in this study should be treated by linguist, scholars or any other researchers who have interest in folklores in Ẹdo language.

This study focuses on metaphorical expressions in Yoruba language with aspecificapproach to semantics. The aim of the study is to examine the metaphorical expressions in Yoruba and to identify the semantic properties that contribute totheirmeanings, while its objectives are to identify the metaphorical expressions inYoruba, determine the semantic features that characterize these expressions and to investigatethe ways in which these expressions are used in conversation. The study seekstouncover the cultural and linguistic intricacies of Yoruba metaphors. By analyzingthese expressions, it aims to enhance linguistic analysis, provide cognitive insights, of er an interdisciplinary perspective, and facilitate practical applications inlanguage education and cross-cultural communication.The data for this studywascollected through oral interview which was conducted with five competent speakersof Yoruba whose ages were between 50 and 65, two men and three women whoarevast with the knowledge of Yoruba language. The conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) wasemployed for the analysis of the data. The reason for adopting this framework is dueto its ability to uncover underlying conceptual structures within language andculture. By applying CMT, the study aims to analyze how abstract concepts are understoodand communicated through metaphorical expressions in Yoruba, facilitating adeeperunderstanding of cognitive processes, and linguistic nuances. The datawerepresented according to the dif erent metaphorical expressions gotten fromthedatacollection. The data were analyzed and the concepts were realized and explainedextensively via primary metaphors, cultural metaphors, embodied metaphors, conceptual metaphors, and image schemas. The findings revealed a diverse analysisof metaphorical expressions deeply embedded within Yoruba culture, sheddinglight on the intricate conceptualization of key concepts. Through the lens of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), the analysis unearthed a nuanced understandingof concepts such as friendship, education, leadership, community, time, communication, emotions, success, family, and strength. Lastly, the study recommends further studiesin this area and also to delve into the historical and cultural origins of Yorubametaphorical expressions, their impact on language acquisition, and their cross-cultural interpretation.