ABSTRACT
Igbo language is made up of so many dialects that comprise
the Igbo speaking areas of the country and is marked by certain tense and
aspect just as in every other language of the world, which are used to indicate
the time of events/ actions as well as the duration, inception , continuity and
completion of such events/ action ie (Aspect). These dialects that make up the
Igbo language have their own tense and aspect peculiar to themselves or are
related in one way or the other. In this piece of work, the writer wishes to
investigate and to expose tense and aspect as found in Ogbunike dialect as one
of the Igbo speaking communities ie if there is any tense-marker and how they
are realized. Also to portray how these tense and aspect relates with the
standard Igbo, if there is any similarities or differences found within.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
All the languages
of the world have their own rules that must be followed by the speakers of such
a language. This is called the grammar of that language. In discussing
grammatical categories certain things that are discussed are number, gender
that points to the Noun, while tense, aspect, mood etc. point to the verb in a
sentence. Tense, points to the actual time of an event while aspect, points to
the duration of an event as regards to its inception, continuation, as well as
the completion of such an event. All of them point to the distinctive forms the
verb can take to portray these actions.
This work is set
to unfold the 2 grammatical categories of tense and aspect in Ogbunike Igbo.
The notion of
tense and aspect has evoked some contradicting opinions among some linguists in
the past. Emenajo (1978:167) claims that they interact in some subtle ways and
in practice, is sometimes quite difficult to make. The term tense is used to
denote time reference of events. It explains the relationship between actions
or events and the actual time they took place, while aspect on the otherhand
shows the function of the verb that defines the duration of the action of the
verb as regards its completion and continuation.
The notion of
tense and aspect seem to be a universal phenomenon as all languages of the
world make use of either of them or both in distinct forms. The Igbo language
also makes use of both tense and aspect as well. Ogbunike, a dialect of Igbo
language, shows distinctions among events via the morphological changes in
their verb roots. This work therefore,
hopes to unravel the distinctions between the 2 categories of tense and aspect
in Ogbunike Igbo.
1.2
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
There are
varying/ contradictory opinions among the Igbo linguists as it concerns the
categories of tense and aspect in Igbo language. Some linguists claim that they
interact in a subtle way and in practice sometimes quite difficult to make,
while others clearly identified the categories separately in Igbo language.
This age long
confusion stares us in the face as we delve into these grammatical categories
in Ogbunike dialect.
Secondly, another
perceived problem is the dearth of materials and literatures on Ogbunike
dialect, such that, to the best of my knowledge, not much work on tense and
aspect has been done in the dialect.
1.3
PURPOSE OF STUDY.
This
study is set to achieve the following aims.
(a)
To describe tense and aspect in
Ogbunike Igbo and how they are realized.
(b)
To draw a distinction between
tense and aspect in Ogbunike Igbo as well as with the Standard Igbo.
1.4
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This work would
be of immense importance because it confirms the existence of tense and aspect
as grammatical categories in Ogbunike and to explore their forms, meanings and
distinctions.
1.5
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In dealing with
the topic at hand the following research questions are vital
2. To
what extent are the realizations of tense and aspect in Ogbunike Igbo similar
or otherwise with tense and aspect in Standard Igbo.
1.6
SCOPE/LIMITATION OF STUDY
As a matter of
fact, a work of this nature requires specification and delimitation. This study
therefore, is limited to the general conception of tense and aspect in Ogbunike
Igbo because of variables of time, space and finance that are not favorable to
us.
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