ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to determine if Igbo verbs can be classified on the basis of transitivity. This is so because of the on-going debate concerning the relevance of transitivity to Igbo syntax. The likes of E.N Emenanjo have made their opinion clear and have even done their own classification of Igbo verbs. According to Nwachukwu(1983) "transitive verbs always express an action or situation involving at least 2 NPs, starting with the subject and ends with the object...". In other words, transitivity has to do with 2 participants in a clause, one is the subject which is the performer and the other is the object which is the recipient of the action. In light of this, intransitive verbs are those that do not have any NP object, so its only the subject that carries out the action denoted by the verb without transferring to any object. This view is in favor of transitivity, while Emenanjo(1985) outlined 5 classes of Igbo verbs based on the kind of complements they take. They are:
1. General Complement Verbs
2. Inherent Complement Verbs
3. Bound Complement Verbs
4. Prepositional Phrase Complement Verbs
5. Ergative Complement Verbs
These are the main hypotheses investigated in this work. Data was gathered from the Igbo translation of the "New World translation of the Holy Scriptures" bible, specifically from the books of Ruth, Proverbs, 2John, 3John, and Jude.
From the data analysis, it was obvious that transitivity is relevant to Igbo syntax because there was a clear distinction between the verbs that take direct objects and those that do not. In conclusion, the Igbo "verbal complex" is very unique and flexible in the sense that it can be classified on various basis of which transitivity is one.
