MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF VERBS IN ITSEKIRI

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the morphological analysis of verbs in Itsekiri. The Itsekiri language presently numbers just over a million speakers and live majorly in the Warri – South, Warri – North and Warri South – West Local Government Areas of Delta State. Significant communities of Itsekiri are also found in some parts of Ondo and Edo states such as Okitipupa and Ologbo towns respectively. This work aims to observe the manifestations of morphological derivations, account for the underlying structure of verbs and clearly distinguish between verbs and _other parts of speech in the Itsekiri language. The primary method of data collection for this work is participant observatory method which includes one on one interview with four competent native speakers all above forty years with the aid of a digital tape recorder and writing materials for accurate analysis. The descriptive theoretical framework dates back to de Saussure (1916). This theory deals with the investigation of the structure of language through the collection of primary language data gathered through interaction with native speaking consultants, has been employed to enhance the study. The major findings of this work is that the Itsekiri verbs uses affixation extensively in locating the time of an occurrence and that compounding and reduplication are used to increase the vocabulary of the language. The attempt made is not a final research on this topic, but it presents a foundation for further researchers on these particular phenomena and other lexical categories in the Itsekiri language.