ABSTRACT
The study is a Semantic functions of Reduplication in Esan. It examined the nature of Reduplications in Esan. It also accounted for the phonological Structure (tonal and syllable patterns); the nature of the lexical class(es) and formation Strategies; Syntactic features and distribution; and Semantic classes and interpretation of Reduplication in Esan.
Data for this study were gathered from a number of discourses in which Esan is often employed by its speakers. The main information was gathered through personal discussion with randomly Chosen Esan native speakers.
Statements that Contain Reduplication were extracted from the data Collected. The framework for this study was based on descriptive Linguistics. At the phonological level, the data were examined to determine whether there are non-Esan phonemes as well as the Syllable Sequences, tonal patterns and phonological processes that manifest in Esan Reduplication. At the morphological level, the study examined the lexical classes to which Esan Reduplications belong as well as their morphological processes and derivational patterns; at the Syntactic level; it examined the syntactic environments and how Reduplication in Esan modify nouns and verbs that they Collocate with; and at the Semantic level, it examined the functional domains of Esan Reduplication as well as their meaning (s) and use in the Esan language.
The study found that Esan Reduplication are made up of the same phonemes as those of the non- Reduplicated words in the language. It was also observed that they belong to the lexical classes of adjectives and adverbs. It was also observed that some Reduplications fit into more than one lexical class depending on the Context in which they are used. Some Reduplications were observed to have been derived from Verbs while some were inflectional as they preserve the Semantic properties of the base form. This study revealed that Esan Reduplications occur both at attributive and predicative positions. This study concludes, amongst others, that some Esan Reduplications have more than one meaning but the same form. The Contexts of usage of such Reduplications determine their meaning (s). In the course of data analysis, the study employed the descriptive and adopted the basic linguistic theory (BLT) as its theoretical framework. and adopted the key (BLT) as theoretical framework.
