LEXICOSTATISTICS ANALYSIS BETWEEN STANDARD IGBO, IKA AND IKWERRE

ABSTRACT

This study examines the lexicostatistics between standard Igbo, Ika and Ikwerre. The aim of this study is to establish the level or degree of relatedness between standard Igbo, Ika and Ikwerre language. This present study is relevant as it helps the students and teachers of the languages gain insight of the languages. The statement of problem in this research is to determine whether Ika and Ikwerre are variety or dialect of standard Igbo using the lexicostatistics theoretical framework to analyze these languages. The method of data collection used for this study is the quantitative method of data collection which include data from primary and secondary source,t he primary source includes Ibadan 400 wordlist each for the three languages, the informants within the age bracket of 20-45 years and the recorded data of the speech produced from the informants while the secondary source includes books and articles gotten from library and web respectively. Relevant literature related to this work were reviewed for a better understanding and more insight of the analysis. At the end of the research work, the conclusion shows that both Ika and Ikwerre are both dialect of standard Igbo with the percentage of 48.25% and 35.5% respectively while the mutual intelligibility between Ika and Ikwerre is low with the percentage of 36% cognates.