Some studies on Standard Yoruba already have detailed structural accounts on the
pronouns. However, similar studies are needed in the regional dialects. This study, therefore,
examined the pronouns in Ìlàjẹ, a south-eastern Yoruba dialect, with a view to providing a
formal account that reveals the native speaker’s intuition of their structure.
The study employed McCarthy’s Prosodic Morphological theory and Chomsky’s
Minimalist Program as its theoretical framework incorporating phonology and syntax in the
morphology of pronoun. Data were generated from the common use of personal pronouns
among the Ìlàjẹ native speakers from Ayétòrò . Ayétòrò does not only have speakers with a
high degree of dialect loyalty but does also have native speakers drawn all over Ìlàjẹland in
fair representation. [...]
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction
1.1 Ìlàjẹ: the dialect, the region and the people
1.2 Objectives of the study
1.3 Literature review
1.3.1 Views on the classification of Yoruba pronouns
1.3.2 Views on the derivation of Yoruba pronouns
1.3.3 Views on the forms of the pronoun
1.4 Justification of the study
1.5 Scope of the study
1.6 Theoretical framework
1.7 Source of data and methods of analysis
1.8 The representation of Ìlàjẹ sounds in the study
1.9 Summary
Chapter two: Theoretical orientation
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Syntax-phonology interface modelling of the nonlinear morphology
2.2 The basic assumptions of the Minimalist framework
2.3 Functional analysis of the pronoun as a determiner
2.4 Covert analysis of the pronoun as pro
2.5 McCarthy’s theory: the autosegmental approach to morphology
2.6 The morphemic tier hypothesis and the morphosyntactic level of analysis
2.7 Summary
Chapter Three: The forms of Ìlàjẹ pronouns
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Ìlàjẹ pronouns: the basic and the derived forms
3.2 The long pronouns in subject and object positions
3.3 The short subject pronoun in Ìlàjẹ
3.4 The short pronoun as an object of the verb
3.5 The third-person singular covert pronoun and its recovery strategy
3.6 Summary
Chapter four: Morphophonemic structure of the short pronoun
4.0 Introduction
4.1 The subject high tone syllable and the subject pronoun in Ìlàjẹ
4.2 The short subject pronoun of the affirmative clause
4.3 The short subject pronoun of the negative clause
4.4 The short subject pronoun of the subjunctive clause
4.5 The short object pronouns
4.6 The object high tone (OHT) proposal
4.7 OHT proposal and the covert object
4.8 The emphatic morpheme of the long pronoun
4.9 Summary
Chapter Five: The Feature-based Syntax of Ìlàjẹ Pronouns
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Interpretable and uninterpretable features in the pronoun
5.2 Àghan and the pronoun-noun plural construction
5.3 The [+E] emphasis feature tier
5.4 Features deletion at the morphosyntactic level
5.5 The internal feature trigger in the short forms derivation of Ìlàjẹ pronouns
5.6 The pro drop trigger in Ìlàjẹ third-person singular pronoun
5.7 Morphosyntactic features deletion in the pronoun-noun plural construction
5.8 The structure of òghun as a logophoric pronoun
5.9 Summary
Chapter six: Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion
6.0 Introduction
6.1 Summary of findings
6.1.1 The major forms of the pronoun
6.1.2 The pronoun in interface-based derivations
6.1.3 Tones and the pronoun
6.1.4 The pronoun as a constituent of the determiner phrase (DP)
6.1.5 Àghan as the plural marker of proper nouns
6.1.6 Àghan as the plural marker of common nouns
6.1.7 Pro analysis of the third-person singular covert pronoun
6.1.8 The internal structure of the long pronoun
6.1.9 The feature-based nonlinear morphemic structure of the pronoun
6.2 Conclusion
6.2.1 Pronoun in the PF interface
6.2.2 Pronoun and its tones in syntax
6.2.3 Pronoun and its derivation hypotheses
6.2.4 Ìlàjẹ pronouns and the DP hypothesis
6.3 Recommendations
Research Objectives and Themes
This study aims to provide a comprehensive morphosyntactic analysis of pronouns within the Ìlàjẹ dialect of Yoruba, utilizing the Minimalist Program and Prosodic Morphological theory to explore the interaction between phonology, morphology, and syntax.
- The phonological properties of Ìlàjẹ pronouns analyzed via autosegmental conventions.
- Morphosyntactic analysis of pronoun structures using feature-checking mechanisms.
- Reconstruction of basic pronoun forms from surface realisations and tonal variations.
- Investigation into the interaction between pronominal usage, Determiner Phrase (DP) structure, and pluralization.
- A non-concatenative approach to pronoun morphology that integrates the phonology-syntax interface.
Excerpt from the Book
The third-person singular covert pronoun and its recovery strategy
The pro drop analysis differs from optional transitivity, a situation where a verb can allow both transitive and intransitive constructions. In Ìlàjẹ, there is a way to distinguish intransitive verbs from those taking the third-person singular covert object pronoun. A change in the tone of the verb is a necessary condition whenever it takes object pro; however, its tone remains unchanged in intransitive construction. Compare the intransitive verb in (42) with the transitive one taking pro object in (43).
Those sentences having covert objects in (38), (39) and (40) above can still recover the meaning of the covert pronouns. This simply implies that the covert pronoun is semantically represented though it lacks independent phonological form. The syntactic position occupied by the covert pronoun can, therefore, be represented by the abstract pronominal form: pro.
The covert pronoun, in the present analysis, has the same concept with pro (a covert pronoun) in Italian, Portuguese and other pro drop languages where the pronouns are recovered through verbal agreement suffixes as shown in (44) below. In Ilaje, tone is used to recover covert object.
Summary of Chapters
Chapter One: Introduction: Provides background on the Ìlàjẹ dialect, outlines the research objectives, reviews existing literature on Yoruba pronouns, and defines the scope and methodological framework of the study.
Chapter two: Theoretical orientation: Introduces the theoretical frameworks used, specifically the Minimalist Program and Prosodic Morphology, and describes the syntax-phonology interface model developed for this study.
Chapter Three: The forms of Ìlàjẹ pronouns: Discusses the classification of pronouns into long, short, and null forms, providing an analysis of their usage in subject and object positions.
Chapter four: Morphophonemic structure of the short pronoun: Details the morphophonemic processes involving tonal changes and segment deletions that characterize the derivation of short pronoun forms.
Chapter Five: The Feature-based Syntax of Ìlàjẹ Pronouns: Examines the morphosyntactic features (phi-features) of pronouns and their role in DP structures and pluralization, utilizing the Minimalist feature-checking approach.
Chapter six: Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion: Summarizes the major research findings, offers recommendations for future dialectological research, and concludes on the importance of interface-based linguistic analysis.
Keywords
Yoruba-Ìlàjẹ, Pronoun, Determiner Phrase, Pro drop, Morphosyntax, Autosegmental Phonology, Minimalist Program, Morphophonemic, Tonal alternation, Prosodic Morphology, Feature-checking, Logophoricity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The research focuses on providing a formal morphosyntactic account of pronouns in the Ìlàjẹ dialect of Yoruba, formally reproducing the native speakers' linguistic intuition through the integration of phonology, morphology, and syntax.
What central themes are explored in this work?
The work explores the interaction between tonal behavior and syntactic distribution, the derivation of short pronominal forms from long counterparts, and the classification of pronouns as determiners within a Determiner Phrase (DP).
What is the primary research objective?
The main objective is to provide a vivid account of the morphosyntax of Ìlàjẹ pronouns and to provide validations or necessary revisions to existing generalizations about Yoruba pronouns based on Ìlàjẹ dialect data.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The study employs a combination of McCarthy’s Prosodic Morphological theory and Chomsky’s Minimalist Program, specifically using non-concatenative, feature-based analysis to model the phonology-syntax interface.
What aspects of the pronoun structure are covered in the main body?
The main body covers the overt and covert forms of pronouns, the role of Subject High Tone (SHT) and Object High Tone (OHT) in recovery strategies, and the morphosyntactic features like Number, Person, and Gender in DP constructions.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
Key concepts include Yoruba-Ìlàjẹ, pronouns as functional determiners, pro drop mechanisms, morphosyntax, and the nonlinear treatment of morphological features.
How is the third-person singular covert pronoun analyzed?
The study reanalyzes it as a covert pronoun called 'pro', which is recovered in the PF interface through specific tonal changes (mutation) on the preceding verb, rather than being treated as a zero morpheme.
What is the significance of the [+E] emphasis feature?
The [+E] emphasis feature is identified as a morphosyntactic property that sustains the disyllabic VCV prosodic template of long pronouns, acting as a derivation-blocking constraint against phonological reduction into short forms.
- Citar trabajo
- Akintoye Japhet (Autor), 2012, The Morphosyntax of Pronouns in the Ìlàjẹ Dialect of Yorùbá, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/229389
