The Syntax and Semantics of Inherent Complement Verbs in Igbo
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| Title | The Syntax and Semantics of Inherent Complement Verbs in Igbo |
| Authors | |
| Abstract | This paper examines in some more detail the syntax and semantics of inherent complement verbs in Igbo. This is in addition to Emenanjo (1984, 1986) and Nwachukwu (1987). Here, we have followed Nwachukwu (1987) to assume that inherent complements in Igbo are not the same as the direct objects of transitive verbs. However, contrary to Nwachukwu (1987), it has been observed that there is only a semantic bond between inherent complements and their inherent complement verbs. The bond is not necessarily syntactic. The pronominalization test distinguishes between the objects of transitive verb and inherent complements. Whereas the object complement of transitive verbs can be pronominalized, inherent complements cannot. Contrary to Nwachukwu’s (1987) view, it has also observed that there is no movement operation affecting inherent complements when inherent complement verbs license internal arguments. Rather, it is the internally licensed arguments that get raised for feature checking purposes. Also, contrary to the view about Igbo dialects in literature, all Ngwa-Igbo adjectival inherent complement verbs can license internal arguments. The data used in this paper are drawn from the Ngwa dialect1 of Igbo which the author speaks with native speaker’s competence. |
| Publisher | ACADEMY PUBLISHER |
| Date | 2012-08-01 |
| Source | Theory and Practice in Language Studies Vol 2, No 8 (2012) |
| Rights | Copyright © ACADEMY PUBLISHER - All Rights Reserved.To request permission, please check out URL: http://www.academypublisher.com/copyrightpermission.html. |