TRANSITIVITY AFFECTEDNESS IN OLUKUMI: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

This project examines transitivity as a grammatical aspect of the Olukumi language. The investigation is done using one theoretical framework:  Hopper and Thompson’s (1980) Transitivity Theory. Sentences that contain verbs that take the GR direct object are classified as transitive, while those that have verbs that cannot take this GR are intransitive. It is on this basis that this study use Hopper and Thompson’s (1980) Transitivity theory to explain transitivity as a matter of degree in Olukumi, The number of transitivity parameters the clause has on the High Transitivity (HT) column measures the degree of transitivity of that clause. A prototypical transitive sentence shows that it has all the 10 parameters in the HT column while a prototypical intransitive sentence scores negative values in the same column. In between the two poles is a range of clauses with varying degrees of transitivity, showing that there is a transitivity continuum. The findings of this study shed more light into the grammar of the Olukumi language in particular and the domains of syntax and semantics in general.