NUMBER MARKING AND TENSE MARKING IN ÌYÌN (A YORUBA DIALECT)

ABSTRACT

Number is a grammatical category which encodes quantification over nouns or nominal entities while tense is grammatical category that relates the time an event occurred to the moment of speaking. Ìyìn is a dialect of Yoruba language which is located in Ekiti state and is under the Kwa phylum of the Niger-Kordofanian language family. This study aims to show the different methods for marking number and tense in Ìyìn. The theoretical framework used in this study is the feature percolation mechanism. The instrument used for data collection is the Ibadan syntactic paradigms. Two native speakers of the dialect- two females were selected as the consultants for this study. The findings in this study shows that number is marked in Ìyìn through the use of numerals, quantifiers, demonstratives, determiners and context while tense is marked through the use of 'á/yáa'’ for future tense, the use of context for non-future tense and the use of '‘láaná'’to mark past tense. This study will enhance the documentation of different dialects and prevent them from going extinct.