1

OJUKWU, CHIKA KATE

REG. NO: PG/MA/08/48885

A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF IGBO AND

ENGLISH AFFIXATION

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITEREY STUDIES,

FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA

ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES

MAY, 2011

Digitally Signed by Webmaster’s Name

DN : CN = Webmaster’s name O= University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Webmaster OU = Innovation Centre
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A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF IGBO AND ENGLISH AFFIXATION

BY

OJUKWU, CHIKA KATE

REG. NO: PG/MA/08/48885

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES,

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

MAY 2011
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TITLE PAGE

A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF IGBO AND ENGLISH AFFIXATION

BY

OJUKWU, CHIKA KATE

REG. NO: PG/MA/08/48885

A M.A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND

LITERARY STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF

THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (M.A) IN ENGLISH AS A SECOND
LANGUAGE

PROJECT SUPERVISOR: DR. C.L. NGONEBU

MAY 2011
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CERTIFICATION

This is certify that Ojukwu, Chika Kate, a postgraduate student in the Department of

English and Literary studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, has satisfactorily completed

the requirements for the courses and project work for the degree of the Master of Arts

(M.A.) in English as a second language. The work embodied in this project report is

original and has not been submitted in part or full for any diploma or degree of this or any

other university.

___________________ _____________________

DR. NGONEBU, C. L Date

SUPERVISOR

____________________ _____________________

PROF. AKWANYA, A. N. Date

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

_________________________ __________________

DEAN OF FACULTY Date

__________________________ __________________

EXTERNAL EXAMINER Date

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DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to my beloved husband, Mr. Michael Okechukwu Ojukwu. To all

our children and to God Almighty for his gift of life, love, grace and inspiration.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is with deep sense of appreciation that I sincerely acknowledge the constructive

criticism and guidance of my supervisor, Dr. Chinyere Ngonebu in all the stages of this
study. Dr., may God grant all your heart desires. I am thankful to all my lecturers, whose
teaching, encouragements and elation have made me to complete this work. I cannot mention
them by name but, to all of you, I remain ever grateful.
I sincerely appreciate the immense contributions of my beloved husband, Mr.
Michael Okechukwu Ojukwu for his sincere love, prayers, patience, financial and moral
support. I am eternally grateful dear. I thank all our children for their patience, love and
understanding. To my parents, brothers and sisters, I thank you so much for your
understanding, care, and love.
This is also a unique opportunity to remember those who have helped me in one way
or the other not only in making this work a successful one but also for their advice and co-
operation throughout my stay in the university, especially in the persons of Prof. Sam
Onuigbo, Mz. Chuma Okeke, Ebekuedike of Linguistics and Igbo, among others. God will
surely repay you a hundred folds.
I am particularly indebted to all the authors whose works I consulted during this
research work. I will not fail to appreciate the love and prayers of my spiritual director, Rev
Fr. Paul Nwanegbo. Fr., you are my inspiration. Finally, I praise and thank God Almighty
whose love and grace brought this study to a successful end.

Ojukwu, Chika Kate

Department of English and
Literary Studies,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
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ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS USED

The following abbreviations and conventions are used in this study:

CA - Contrastive Analysis

L1 - The First Language of the Learner

L2 - The Second Language of the Learner

V - The Basic Verb Form in English

V-ed1 - The Past Form of a Verb in English

V-ed2 - The Past Participle in English

rv1 - Simple Past Tense in Igbo

rv2 - Stative Present Tense in Igbo

* - Ungrammatical or Unacceptable Sentence in Syntax and Error

Indicator in Words

Tone Marking Conventions in the Igbo Language as Used by the Researcher

(/) - High Tone

(\) - Low Tone

(-) - Down Step

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ABSTRACT

This research work hinges on the contrastive analysis of Igbo and English affixation. The
Igbo and English languages are of different linguistic backgrounds and as such are
characterized by differences in the affixation processes. Such differences create problem
in second language learning especially in verbal affixation. This study therefore,
describes the affixation features of the Igbo and English languages and identifies areas of
differences and similarities between the Igbo and English verbal affixation. The work
also states the pedagogical implications of the differences in English and Igbo affixation.
The data were collected and analysed using the descriptive research method, which were
later arranged in tables. The findings of the work reveals that in verbal inflectional
affixation, the formation of past tense in Igbo involves a regular –rv form with only two
exceptions to the rule. The perfect aspect which makes use of –la. is also regular. But the
English language uses the regular –ed form and many other irregular ways for forming
their past tense and perfect aspect and this creates problem to the second language
learner. Also, the -s form or third person does not exist in Igbo and as such poses a
problem to an Igbo learner of the English language. Again, the researcher discovers that
in derivational affixation, prefixes in Igbo are limited to a few vowels that are
conditioned by the vowel harmony rule and in some cases the syllabic nasals. But in the
English language, there are many types of prefixes. The Igbo learner therefore, faces
problem of how to master the large number of distinctive prefixes in English verbs. The
researcher therefore, recommends that language teacher should concentrate on the areas
of differences in both languages while teaching and then use adequate teaching methods
and aids in teaching to ensure the learner understands.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page ...................................................................................................................i

Certification ..............................................................................................................ii

Dedication .................................................................................................................iii

Acknowledgments......................................................................................................iv

Abbreviations and Conventions Used ………………………………………………v

Abstract .....................................................................................................................vi

Table of Contents ......................................................................................................vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study ...............................................................................1

1.2 Statement of the Problem ..............................................................................8

1.3 Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................9

1.4 Research Questions .......................................................................................9

1.5 Scope and Limitations of the Study .............................................................9

1.6 Relevance of the Study .................................................................................10

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................11

2.2 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................11

2.2.1 Affixation ......................................................................................................11

2.2.2 Classification of Affixes in Terms of Position .............................................14

(a) Prefix .......................................................................................................14

(b) Suffix........................................................................................................15

(c) Interfix......................................................................................................15

(d) Infix .........................................................................................................16

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(e) Circumfix ................................................................................................16

(f) Extensional Affix ....................................................................................17

(1) -wa inceptive suffix ..................................................................................19

(2) -cha – complete ........................................................................................19

(3) -gwa – retaliative .....................................................................................20

(4) -kọ - Associative .....................................................................................20

(5) -ta – Directional ......................................................................................20

(6) -tu – touch slightly ..................................................................................20

(g) Enclitics ....................................................................................................20

2.2.3 Classification of Affixes in terms of Function ..................................................22

(a) Inflectional Affixes .......................................................................................22

(b) Derivational Affixes ......................................................................................23

2.3 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................23

2.4 Empirical Studies ..........................................................................................27

(a) Empirical Studies on Igbo Affixation ............................................................27

(b) Empirical studies on English Affixation .......................................................32

2.5 Summary of Literature Review .....................................................................34

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................36

3.2 Research Design ............................................................................................36

3.3 Data Collection Technique ...........................................................................37

3.4 Method of Data Analysis ..............................................................................37

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................38

Research Question I ...................................................................................................38

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4.2 The Verbal Derivational Affixation in English ................................................39

4.2.1 Conversion of Verbs to Nouns .........................................................................39

4.2.2 Conversion of Verbs to Adjectives ...................................................................39

4.3 The Verbal Inflectional Affixation in English .....................................................41

4.3.1 The Base Form .................................................................................................44

4.3.2 The –s Form or Third Person Singular Present Form ………………………...44

4.3.3 The Regular Past Tense Form or –ed ………………………………………...45

4.3.4 The Irregular Past Tense Forms………………………………………………45

4.3.5 The English Aspect……………………………………………………………46

A. The Perfect Aspect in English with Irregular ways of Forming it……………….46

4.3.6 The Irregular Ways of Forming Present Perfect Aspect………………………47

B. The Progressive Aspect/Continuous …………………………………………….47

i. The Present Progressive Aspect…………………………………………………..47

ii. The Past Progressive Aspect/Past Continuous …………………………………...48

4.4 The Verbal Derivational Affixation in the Igbo Language ...............................49

4.4.1 Prefixation ........................................................................................................49

4.4.2 Reduplication ...................................................................................................50

4.4.3 Prefixation and Suffixation ..............................................................................51

4.4.4 Prefixation, Interfixation and Reduplication ....................................................51

4.4.5 Circumfixation .................................................................................................52

4.5 Verbal Inflection in the Igbo Language ...............................................................52

4.5.1 The Igbo Tense ……………………………………………………………….52

4.5.2 The –rv1 Simple Past Tense…………………………………………………..52

4.5.3 The –rv2 Stative Present Tense ........................................................................53

4.5.4 The Igbo Aspect………………………………………………………………54

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(a) Perfect Affirmative Aspect ...................................................................................54

(b) The Perfect Negative Aspect with Suffix -beghi/-gh[ ........................................55

4.5.5 The Imperative Affirmative Mood ...................................................................55

4.5.6 The Imperative Negative Mood ........................................................................56

4.5.7 Negative Inflectional Suffix .............................................................................56

(a) The Negative Suffix .............................................................................................56

(b) The Negative Inflectional Imperative .................................................................57

Research Question II ..................................................................................................57

4.6 The Formation of Past Tense and Perfect Aspect in English...............................58

4.7 The Formation of Past Tense and Perfect Aspect in Igbo ...................................62

4.8 The -s Form or the Third Person Singular Form .................................................63

4.9 Prefixes in the English Language .......................................................................64

(a) Negative Prefixes .................................................................................................65

(b) Prefixes Indicating Degree or Size ......................................................................66

(c) Prefixes of Attitude ..............................................................................................66

(d) Locative Prefixes .................................................................................................67

(e) Prefixes of Time and Order .................................................................................67

4.10 Prefixes in the Igbo Language ..........................................................................67

(a) Prefixes {-i/-[} for deriving infinitive …………………………………………...68

(b) Prefixes {-a/-e} for deriving present participle …………………………………68

(c) Prefixes {-m/-n} for deriving nouns from verbs………………………………...68

(d) Prefixes {-q/-o} {-m/-n} for deriving other form classes ………………………69

(e) Syllabic nasal prefixes {-m/-n} for deriving verbal nouns………………………69

4.11 The English Language Affixation .....................................................................70

4.12 The Igbo Language Affixation ..........................................................................71

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4.12.1 Examples of Igbo Prefixation ........................................................................71

4.12.2 Examples of Igbo Suffixation ........................................................................72

4.12.3 Examples of Igbo Interfixation ......................................................................72

4.12.4 Examples of Igbo Circumfixation ..................................................................73

Research Question III ................................................................................................73

Research Question IV .................................................................................................77

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................80

5.2 Summary of the Findings .....................................................................................80

5.3 Recommendations .................................................................................................81

5.4 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................82

Works Cited …………………………………………………………………………83

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Language is the chief source of communication of ideas. There are some other

ways also, such as dance, music, physical gestures and symbols through which we can

communicate ideas. But language is a very common and easy source of

communication. It is the basis of human civilization, which would have been

impossible without it. As Encyclopaedia Americana puts it:

Language is the principle and richest means of communication used by

human beings. Language functions primarily as spoken means of
communication. It can, however, also be transferred to other media,
most clearly as in the case of writing… In addition, the deaf
communities, in which the aural medium is not available, the visual
medium is exploited for deaf sign language (727).

Every language has different ways of forming new words that makes it unique.

One of these processes of word formation is called affixation. Affixation is under the

concept of morphology, and morpheme. Morphology is a branch of linguistics that

deal with the internal structure and formation of words. Yule defines morphology as,

“the study of forms” (75). These forms are what we have as morphemes. Morphemes

are the smallest units of grammar.

There are two kinds of morphemes: free morphemes and bound morphemes. A

free morpheme can stand alone and is understandable in isolation. Example, boy. A
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bound morpheme cannot occur alone example –ish in girlish. Affixation is thus, the

process of addition of affixes (bound morphemes) to the existing stem, root, or base

morphemes in order to form new words or change the meaning of the existing one. It

is one of the productive ways of word building in both the English and Igbo

languages. Babarinde (58) states that, “affixation comprises of prefixation,

suffixation, interfixation, infixation”. Anagbogu, Mbah and Eme (102) include

“circumfixation.” All these are morphological processes. According to

www.Sil.Org/Linguistics/Glossayoflingu, “A morphological process is a means of

changing a stem to adjust its meaning to fit its syntactic and communicational

context.”

Prefixation according to www.Sil.Org/Linguistics/Glossaryoflingui, “is a

morphological process whereby a bound morpheme is attached to the front of a root

or stem. The kind of affix involved in this process is called a prefix”. Example, in

English the prefix –un attaches to the front of the stem selfish to form the word

unselfish.

“Suffixation is a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme is

attached to the end of a root or stem. The kind of affix involved in this process is

called a suffix”. This is according www.Sil.Org/Linguistics/Glossaryoflingui.

Example, in English the past tense suffix –ed attaches to the end of stem walk to form

the past tense verb walked.

Interfixation according to www.Sil.Org/Linguistics/Glossaryoflingui, “is a

morphological process whereby a bound morpheme attaches in between two roots

having the same sounds and meaning. The kind of affix in this process is called an
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interfix”. Examples abound in the Igbo language. Example, ogo-l-ogo meaning very

tall.

Infixation according to language – theory. Info/language 732 html, “is a

morphological process whereby a bound morpheme attaches within a root or stem.

The kind of affix involved in this process is called an infix”. This occurs in Tagalog a

Philippine language .The focus marker –um is an infix which is added after the first

consonant of the root –bili. um – infix, bumili – word.

Circumfixation according to www.2.hawaii.edu/.-blender/processhtml “is a

morphological process whereby a bound morpheme is attached to a root or stems both

initially and finally”. This occurs in Igbo language. For instance, Etimxkpu. Meaning

act of shouting. Eti… mkpu are the circumfix.

According to Encyclopaedia Americana “languages may be classified from a

number of view points and for various purposes. The two basic classifications are

typological and genetic” (731).

Genetic classification groups together languages which are presumed to have

arisen from a common source. It reflects languages that share common ancestors. The

characteristics shared by related languages are hardly by chance.

According to www.rogerblench.info/languagedata/... “Genetically, Igbo is one

of the African languages that belong to the new Benue-Congo of the Niger Congo

language family. Igbo is among the three languages spoken in Nigeria of which others

are Hausa and Yoruba”. “Igbo is the only major language of eastern Nigeria. The Igbo

language is spoken indigenously in the states of Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Benue,

Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Rivers” according to

www.Parafilion.Org/Wikipedia/Pm.Wikiphp/PanAfrican/Igbo. Typologically, Igbo is

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a tonal language. It has three tones: the high, the low and the down step. The Igbo

language has a number of dialects distinguished by accent or orthography, but almost

mutually intelligible.According to www.danshort.com/i.e/:

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The English language, on the other hand, is one of the Indo-European

family of languages. Within this family, English is a member of West
Germanic branch originated from the Anglo-Frisian and Old Saxon
dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various part of
what is now north West Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands in the
5th century.
Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural and colonial

influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of the

United States since the mid century, English widely dispersed around the world,

become the leading language of discourse and has acquired use as lingua franca, that

is, a means of communication between non native speakers. It is widely learned as a

second language. One major impact of the growth of English has been to reduce

native linguistic diversity in many parts of the world for instance, in African countries

of which Nigeria is one of them. According to en.wikipedia.Org/wiki/linguistics-ty,

another basic way of classification of languages is:

From the typological view point. A typological classification groups

languages into types according to their structural characteristics. The
most famous typological classification is probably that of isolating,
agglutinating and inflecting (or fusional) languages, which was
frequently invoked in the 19th century in support of an evolutionary
theory of language development.
According to McGregor (255), “isolating languages have no (or few) bound

morphemes.” As the name suggests, the morpheme stands as words independently in

sentences one following the other. Such words lack affixes and are often root

morphemes. Haitian Creole (a French-based Creole spoken on the island of Haiti) is

an isolating language. Examples,

1. M fa konprann Sa 1(i) ap dim lan

I don’t understand what he/she is telling me.

On the other hand, according to en.wikipedia.Org/wiki/Agglutinative…

“Agglutinating languages are languages that use agglutination extensively. It was

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derived from a Latin verb agglutinaire, which means to glue together”. Most words

are formed by joining morphemes together. According to MacGregor (255) in

agglutinating languages, “the boundaries between morphemes are clear-cut. It is

obvious where one morpheme ends and the next begins”. Agglutinative languages

tend to have a high rate of affixes/morphemes per word. Agglutination is the addition

of a large number of affixes one after another. Examples in the English language:

2. book-s, re-use, lik-able, anti-dis-establish-ment- ari-an-ism. An agglutinating

language is one whose primary means of building new words is by adding affixes.

According to www.booksrags.com/tandf/agglutinating... “There are agglutinating

languages where prefixation predominates; others prefer suffixation; sometimes

agglutinating languages are also referred to as inflecting languages because they also

make extensive use of grammatical affixes”. Examples of agglutinating languages are

the Igbo and English languages. Examples in English language:

3. book-s, re-use, lik-able, anti-dis-establish-ment- ari-an-ism.

According to Osuagwu, Nwaozuzu, Dike, Nwaogu and Okoro (64) examples of

agglutination in Igbo language are as follows:

4. Ó gbúdàchàkwàrà yà meaning He cut it down completely.

gbú - dà – kwá – rà are morphemes expressing distinct categories. These morphemes and

their meanings are as follows:

Ó – He

gbú – cut
dà - fall down
chá – completely
kwá – also
rà – past
yà – it
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Here, Igbo being an agglutinating language, the verb structures above show a lot of

morphological complexity. Again, in Igbo the verbs may also be very simple in structure.

Example, the simple imperative may consist of just the simple verb root plus vowel

suffix. For instance,

5. pụ + ọ = pụọ meaning go.

McGregor (255 – 256) says that “fusional or inflecting languages, have

morphological complex words in which it can be difficult to separate morphemes

from one another. The boundaries between them are blurry”. In contrast with

agglutinating languages, words are easily analysed into morphemes that follow one

another like beads on a string. For instance, consider the following Latin examples:

6. puto 1st person singular indicative present tense ‘I think’

Putas 2nd person singular indicative present tense ‘you think’

Putat 3rd person singular indicative present tense ‘he/she thinks’.

In fusional or inflectional language, a stem undergoes a change in form, based on its

grammatical function in sentence. The Igbo and English language are good examples

of fusional/inflectional languages. According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inflection:

Most English verbs are inflected for tense with the inflectional past
tense affix –ed as in call and the past tense called is realized. English
also inflects verbs by affixation to mark the third person singular in the
present tense with addition of –s and the present participle with –ing.
English short adjectives are inflected to mark comparative and
superlative forms with –er and –est respectively. In addition, English
also shows inflection by: ablaut (sound change, mostly in verbs) and
umlaut (a long-short vowel alternation in verbs). For examples, (a)
write, wrote, written (b) sing, sang, sung, are used as the present tense,
past tense and past participle respectively.
On the other hand, the Igbo language inflects to show mood, aspect, and tense.

Examples of past tense inflection in the Igbo language,

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7. Examples,

Verb roots Suffixes Inflected words

bia ra Biara
hx rx hxrx

The Igbo language inflects by adding inflectional affixes like the English

language. But Igbo is unlike the English language because it does not use umlaut

(that is, long-short vowel alternation) and ablaut (sound change).

In a nut shell, however, the Igbo and English languages show agglutinating

tendencies in some cases of grammar and fusional/inflectional tendencies in different

degrees. For this reason, I can posit that the Igbo and English languages are not

completely isolating or inflectional or agglutinating.

From the ongoing, it can be deduced that historically, Igbo and English are

different languages but typologically, they have some areas of similarities and

differences. Apart from these, no two languages are completely alike at all levels of

linguistic analysis even if they are of the same linguistic origin. Based on this, various

languages can be placed side by side for comparative analysis. The distinctive

features of various languages are taken into cognisance once they are placed side by

side for comparative analysis.

In a multi-lingual society like Nigeria, a person after acquiring his L1 (a

person’s first language) for instance, the Igbo language, is sometimes exposed to

another language, for instance, English to strengthen his social harmony and mutual

understanding. The learner therefore, faces problems as a result of the differences in

the features of the two languages and also as a result of the language habits he has
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developed against the background of which he learns the new language. This results

to linguistics interference.

Interference from the first language is clearly a major source of difficulty in

second language learning. Adults learn the target language against the background of

their first language in which they have attained a reasonable degree of competence.

There is, therefore, the inevitable tendency to transfer the ingrained native language

attributes to the target language thereby hindering effective mastery of grammar of

the new language. The problem is more pronounced when the differences between the

systems of the two languages are wide. Lado puts it poignantly thus:

We assume that the student who comes in contact with a foreign

language will find some features of it quite easy and others extremely
difficult. Those elements that are similar to his native language will be
simple for him and those elements that are different will be difficult (2).

Due to these problems, some linguists like: Lado, Fries and so on have taken

it as a point of duty to study the L1 of a learner and the L2 (a language acquired by a

person after his L1 - first language) so as to know the areas that cause problems and

the possible solution to the problems. Hence, Lado and others devised the method of

contrastive analysis, as one of the techniques used in applied linguistics.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The Igbo and English languages are of different linguistic backgrounds and

because of this they are characterized by differences in the affixation processes.

Differences in affixation processes in Igbo and English create problem in second

language learning. It becomes the intention of the study to find out the similarities and

differences between Igbo and English verbal affixation and the implication this may

have in the study of the target language (English language). This is because some of

the problems encounter in the language are as a result of affixation differences.

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1.3 Purpose of the Study

The aims or objectives of carrying out this research are:

i. To describe the similarities between the Igbo and English verbal affixation

ii. To identify areas of differences between the Igbo and English verbal

affixation.

iii. To state the pedagogical implication of the absence/differences in English and

Igbo affixation.

iv. To illustrate the affixation patterns of both Igbo and English.

v. To provide possible solutions to the pedagogical problems discovered.

1.4 Research Questions

The research questions that guide the study are as follows:

i. What is the extent of similarity between the Igbo and English verbal

affixation?

ii. To what extent does the English and Igbo verbal affixation differ?

iii. What are the pedagogical implications of the absence/differences of the affixes

in either of the languages?

iv. To what extent will the study help the second language learner towards

achieving proficiency and intelligibility in the language?

1.5 Scope and Limitations of the Study

The affixation processes in both languages cut across grammatical categories

especially in English. However, because of the nature of the research and time

available to the researcher, the work would be limited to the verbal affixation in both

languages.
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This study is limited to the verbal affixation because the Igbo language hardly

has affixes on any other grammatical categories than the verb. The study focuses on

verbal affixation to enable the researcher to generate concrete findings and

conclusions.

1.6 Relevance of the Study

The study fills a gap because much emphasis seems to be placed on

phonology, syntax and semantics. However, morphology has received little or no

attention. To fill this gap, this project is on “A Contrastive Study of Igbo and English

Affixation.” A contrastive analysis of this nature will be beneficial to Igbo learners, of

English, teachers, theory formulators, and curriculum planners.

i. A study of this nature will enable the learner to know the similarities and the

differences of Igbo and English verbal affixation. Knowing this influences his

learning because he is learning the target language against the background of

the mother tongue.

ii. It helps the teacher to focus on the areas of differences in both languages so as

to enhance understanding among the students.

iii. The curriculum planner will incorporate the features of morphology of both

languages in curriculum and also in the teacher’s workbooks for practical

application and learning of the features of the two languages in the school

system.

iv. Theory formulators will incorporate the characteristics of the knowledge of the

language affixation in both languages in generating a theory that can be

applied in all languages.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

As Babbie, (107) rightly points out, “no good researcher writes in a vacuum”.

This is because every research that worth its salt must be guided by past related works

written on the subject of study. In this chapter, in order to provide a better

understanding of the study, related literature on the topic is reviewed under the

following headings:

i. Conceptual framework

ii. Theoretical studies

iii. Related empirical studies

iv. Summary of literature review

2.2 Conceptual Framework

Conceptual framework is a group of concepts that are broadly defined and

systematically organized to provide a focus, a rationale and a tool for the integration

and interpretation of information. The conceptual framework of this study is

discussed under the heading: Affixation with its various appendages.

2.2.1 Affixation

Ballard, (51), defines affixation as, “the process by which bound morphemes

(other than roots) are added to bases, either word-initially or word finally to form new

words.” Before discussing in-depth the concept of affixation, it is important to

understand the concept of morphology. Morphology is one of the branches of

linguistics that studies the process of word formation of language(s). According to

Akmajian, Demers, Farmer and Harnish (12), “morphology is a subfield of linguistics

 26

that studies the internal structure of words and the relationships among words.” Nida

(1) defines morphology as, “the study of morphemes and their arrangements in

forming words.” Morpheme is the unit of study in morphology. It is the smallest

meaningful unit of a language. Anagbogu, et al. (99) refers to morpheme as, “the

smallest indivisible form which has a specific grammatical function.” Example, the

English word UNBREAKABLE has three morphemes: un -, break, and – able.

According to Babarinde (22), “there are basically two types of morpheme.

These are free morphemes and bound morphemes.” He says further that:

“Free morphemes can stand on their own with meanings. They are independent and

are otherwise known as monomorphemic words. Every free morpheme is a word.”

(22). Thus, free morphemes are lexical morphemes probably because they have

inherent or intrinsic meanings being words belonging to major lexical categories such

as: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. There is another class of morphemes that

are called functional morphemes. Examples of such words are: because, on, and, and

so on. These words belong to minor lexical categories such as: pronoun, conjunction,

and preposition.

Bound morpheme is the one that cannot stand alone in an utterance. For

example, in -, un -, and –ly are bound morphemes. They are forms which may

possess meanings but which crucially have grammatical functions in the grammar.

For instance, -ly when attached to urgent, adverbializes the free morpheme. As have

been stated, morphology deals with the formation of words. Words are formed

through several ways. Affixation is one of such ways of word formation. Other ways

of word formation according to Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams, (106) include:

“Coinage, Compound, Blends, Acronyms, Back-formation, Eponym and Clipping.”

 27

Affixation is one of the productive ways of word building throughout the

history of the English language as well as in the Igbo language. Agbedo defines

affixation as: “a word building or word formation process that involves the addition

of phoneme or group of phonemes to a root or stem to modify, extend or change the

meaning and/or function of the word” (89).

In the English language for instance, plural morpheme –s is added to job, rat,

and book to form the following forms, jobs, rats, and books. The process of

attaching the plural morpheme –s to these roots is called affixation. Also, Umera,

Nneka, and Nwankwo (50) define affixation as, “the addition of prefixes and suffixes

to the root word or base with or without change of the word class.” Example, the

addition of dis- to advantage to get disadvantage does not change the word class

from noun which it is, while the addition of –er to drive making it driver has

changed the word class from verb to noun. From all these definitions above,

affixation is thus a morphological process whereby an affix is attached to a root or

stem in order to form new words or change the meaning of the existing one.

According to Agbedo, “the linguistic item that is involved in this process is referred

to as affix” (89). Agbedo (89) poists that “an affix is a speech sound which is added to

a word and which changes the meaning or function of the word.” To have a firm grip

of the concept of affixation, these linguistic items such as: root, base, and stem should

be adequately understood.

Babarinde (22) defines a root as “The smallest morphological unit that is associated

with a free morpheme. It is the very heart of the word formation – the core of any

given word.” The root carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and

cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Contents words in nearly all languages
 28

represent root morphemes. For instance, in the word: naturalization, the root of the

word is nature. Also, the root is defined by Osuagwu, et al as “that part of the word

left after all the affixes or appendages have been removed” (56).

Umera, et al., define a base as: “a form to which an affix is added. It is the smallest

form of a word. Often, the base is the root. It is the very heart of a word to which

additions and appendages are made” (14).

A stem is defined by Umera, et al., as, “a root to which an affix can be added” (14).

Babarinde sees a stem as, “that part of the word to which the last morpheme in the

word is structurally added (23). Fromkin, et al. see a stem as “the base to which an

affix is attached” (107).

According to Agbedo (89), affixes are classified in terms of “position and

function.” Positional classification of affixes yields the following: prefix, suffix,

interfix, circumfix, infix and so on.

2.2.2 Classification of Affixes in Terms of Position

(a) Prefix

Finegan says, “prefixes are attached to the front of a stem” (49). According to

Ballard (51), “a prefix is an affix which occurs in word-initially.” From the above

definitions, a prefix occurs in front of a root or stem. According to Ballard, (51) “A

prefix is class preserving”. Prefix occurs in both the English and Igbo languages.

8. Examples of prefixes in English:

Prefixes Roots Derived Words

un - happy Unhappy
ex - Wife ex-wife
mis - judge Misjudge
Sentence: She is unhappy about the whole incidence.
 29

(b) Suffix

According to Ballard (51), suffix is defined as “an affix which is added to

word-finally.” It is an affix that is added to the end of a word to change its meaning.

Ballard states further:

A suffix may be class preserving. Example, both king and kingdom are
nouns. But it is equally likely to be class changing. For instance, the
addition of the suffix –ly to the adjective sad results in an adverb sadly.
Suffix tends to be word class specific unlike prefix which can be added
to at least two word classes. For example, the suffix –ment is found in
noun amendment (51).

9. Examples of suffixes in English

Roots Suffixes Derived Words

happy - ness Happiness
like - ness Likeness
call - er Caller
faith - ful Faithful

Sentence: She is a faithful friend.

(c) Interfix

Anagbogu, et al., define interfix as “an affix which occurs in the middles of a

word in such a way that on both sides of it, there are identical morphemes” (102).

Examples, in Igbo language according to Anagobgu, et al., (102).

10. Examples of interffixes in Igbo

Words Interfixes Meaning

egwu-r-egwu -r- Drama/sport
ngq-r[- - ri - Winding road
ngq
agx-m-agx -m- Text
akalaka - l- Destiny
 30

In example 10 above, -r-, -ri-, -m- and -l- are all interfixes joining two stems with the

same sounds and meaning.

(d) Infix

According to Babarinde (58) “infixes are in neither English nor in Igbo. This

process involves a strict insertion of an affix within a root.” Ballard defines infix as “a

bound morpheme which is inserted within the word.” In Tagalog, a language of the

Philippines, the infix - um means “one who did something su:lat = writing

11. Su-mu-:lat = one who wrote.

Another example, in Tagalog according to Babarinde (58),

12. Kanta ‘sing’

Kinanta ‘was sung’

Kum anta ‘sang’

Kumak anta “is singing”

-na, -um, -umak are infixes (strictly inserted) in the root kanta meaning past

participle, past simple and present continuous inflectional morphemes respectively in

the language.

(e) Circumfix

It occurs when one position of an affix appears at the front of a stem, and the

other at the rear. Fromkin et al. (81) define circumfix as, “morphemes that are

attached to a base morpheme both initially and finally.” Anagbogu, et al. see

circumfix as, “that which is structured as a frame with an affix at each end” (102).
 31

The circumfix is an affix whose occurrence is less wide spread than that of the prefix

and the suffix. According to Anagbogu et al (102) the following Malayan example is

given:

Pe – an is the frame of a Malayan circumfix. A verb root is inserted into the above

frame to derive an abstract noun.

13. Pe -rasa-an ‘act of feeling’.

Another example in Igbo according to Anagbogu (102)

14.

Word Circumfix Translated form

esi-mx-ncha esi…ncha act of making soap

(f) Extensional Affix

According to Anagbogu et al (104) extensional affixation involves attaching

suffixes to bases, but this exercise does not interfere with the lexical classes of the

affected morpheme. Words can change from concrete to abstract or concrete to

concrete nouns as a result of such extensions as in:

15. girl girlhood

home homestead

scholar scholarship (Anagbogu, 104)

According to Emenanjo, (143) in Igbo Language and Culture, extensional suffixes

are “principally meaning modifiers since they extend the meanings of the verbs to

which they are affixed.” Nwachukwu refers to extensional as “non inflectional suffix”

(74). The term extensional suffix is borrowed from Emenanjo, (88) in his Element of
 32

Modern Igbo Grammar to denote “those suffixes which have a wide scope of

occurrence.”

According to Emenanjo (97) in his Element of Modern Igbo Grammar the

term extensional is used in African linguistics for referring to elements usually

affixes, which function principally as meaning modifiers. Thus, the presence or

absence of an extensional suffix changes the meaning of a sentence. “Extensional

ones do not change grammatical classes of the elements to which they are affixed”

(Emenanjo, 139) in Igbo Language and Culture.

Extensional suffixes are classified according to their paradigmatic relationship.

Francis, in Tomori (21) defines “a paradigm as the system of morphemic variations

which is correlated with a parallel system of variation in environment.”

Examples of extensional suffixes classified according to the paradigmatic

relationship. Example, according to Emenanjo (144) in his Igbo Language and

Culture,

16.

Igbo English Translated Forms

a Q  gwx ‘It is finished.’
b Q  gwxla ‘It is finished.’
c Q  gwxwala  ‘It is beginning to finish.’
d Q  gwxkpqqla  ‘It is completely finished.’

The first (a) does not have the perfective marker {-la}, but it is affixed to others.

Apart from the perfective marker, there is the affixation of other suffixes in examples

(c) and (d) respectively {-wa} and {-kpq}.

 33

These are the extensional suffixes and they modify the meaning of verbs. The first

example of extensional suffix is given in perfective affirmative. Another example

could be seen in indicative affirmative.

17.

Igbo English Translated Forms

a Q  zx He bought.
b Q  zxrx He bought.
c Q  zxwala He began to buy.
d Q  zxkpqrq He completely bought.

Though the verb forms are different, the extensional suffixes {-wa} and {-kpq} still

convey the same meaning To begin to and completely.

Extensional suffixes extend the meaning of any given verb and have generally

been described as meaning modifying affixes. Emenanjo (100-123) in his Element of

Modern Igbo Grammar gives the following examples of extensional suffix.

1). -wa inceptive suffix

18. Example,

Suffix Igbo sentence Translated form

-wa Lawanx. Go away you lot.

2). -cha - complete

19. Example,

Suffix Igbo sentence Translated form

E mechara ha
-cha
alawa. They finally left.
 34

3). -gwa - retaliative

20. Example,

Suffix Igbo sentence Translated form

G[ tie m mx If you beat me I (shall)
-gwa
etigwara g[ . retaliate.

4). -kq - Associative

21. Example,

Suffix Igbo sentence Translated form

Ha niile b[kqtara
-kq qnx. They all live together.

5). -ta - Directional

22. Example,

Suffix Igbo sentence Translated form

-ta Weta okpu m. Bring my hat.

6). -tx – touch slightly

23. Example,

Suffix Igbo sentence Translated form

Q detxrx ya He/she tasted it (a bit of

-tx qnx. it).

(g) Enclitics
 35

In Igbo language, according to Emenanjo, (90) in Element of Modern Igbo

Grammar says that until fairly recently, enclitics and suffixes are lumped together and

collectively called suffixes. Like suffixes, enclitics are bound with optional elements.

According to Emenanjo, (90) in Element of Modern Grammar, he gives the features

of suffixes and enclitics as;

a) While suffixes appear only in the verbal slot and as part of the verb stem, the

enclitics appear both in verbal and in the NP slots without appearing to be

essential parts of these.

b) Suffix occurs on the verbal, the enclitics can, in principal, appear with

practically all parts of speech with the possible exception of the preposition.

c) Enclitics occasionally take the same tone pattern as that of the preceding

syllable.

24. Examples,

(a) Nd[ a kwa nx What of all these ones?

(b) Ng[ kwa nx What of all you yourself?

25. Examples of Enclitics

Enclitics Igbo sentence Translated form

Nd[ a cha b[ara All these came to the

-cha
cha oriri  cha feasting.
Nd[ a ga bx ga. All these came to the
-ga
nke m ga . feasting.

According to Agbedo, (89) “affixes are classified in terms of function into two main

types: inflectional and derivational affixes.”

 36

2.2.3 Classification of Affixes in Terms of Function

(a) Inflectional Affixes

MacGregor, (62) sees inflectional affixes as, “Bound morphemes that give

grammatical information relevant to the interpretation of a sentence.” They do not

give rise to new lexical words, but to different forms that are appropriate for the use

of the lexical word in the sentence.

Finegan says, “Inflectional morphemes create variant forms of a word to

conform to different roles in a sentence or in discourse” (51). According to Finegan:

“Inflectional morphemes serve to mark semantic notion such as number, and

grammatical categories such as gender and case on noun and pronoun. On verbs, they

can mark such things as tense or number, while on adjectives they indicate degree”.

(51)

According to Akmajian, et al (43), “all inflectional affixes in English are suffixes.

Generally, inflectional affixes form grammatical forms such as: tense, aspect,

plurality and so on.

Examples, English

Verb inflectional affixes according to Akmajian et al. (43) are as follows:

(a) –s third person singular marker

26. Example bake – bakes

(b) –ed past tense marker

27. Present Past tense

Talk Talked
 37

He talked.

(c) Progressive marker –ing

Examples sing – singing

They are singing.

(d) Past participle markers –en or –ed

Eat – eaten

She has eaten dinner.

Bake – baked

He has baked a cake.

(b) Derivational Affixes

According to Agbedo (87), “derivation involves the processes whereby new

words are formed from existing words. It consists in adding to a root or stem an affix

or affixes.” Derivational affixes produce new words whose meanings and

distributions are somewhat erratic (Agbedo, 87).

28. Prefixes Roots Derived words English meanings

Q cha Qcha Colour
{ cha { cha Becomes white

Sentence example: Q d[ Qcha.

2.3 Theoretical Framework

The importance of theory is to help the investigator to base the work on a

guiding principle or theory of linguistics. This work hinges on Contrastive Analysis

as a theory because it provides the basis for comparing and contrasting the affixation

patterns of two different languages. According to

en.wikipedia.Org/wiki/contrastive.a…
 38

Contrastive analysis was used extensively in the field of Second

Language Acquisition (SLA) in the 1960s and early 1970s, as a method
of explaining why some features of a target language were more
difficult to acquire than others. According to the behaviourist theories
prevailing at the time, language learning was a question of habit
formation and this could be reinforced or impeded by existing habits.
Therefore, the difficulty in mastering certain structures in a second
language (L2) depends on the differences between the learners’ (L1) and
the language they are trying to learn.

Lado states that: “contrastive analysis is a scientific description of the

language to be learned carefully compared with a parallel description of the native

language of the learner” (1). Every language has its own peculiar features that makes

it different from another language. These peculiar features of individual languages

constitute problems to the learners of the language, but the problem could be

predicted by a comparison of the two languages. Applied linguists believe that

problems of L2 learning could be illuminated through a careful comparison of the

languages concerned. Through the comparison, the differences and the similarities

between the two languages are brought out so that predications are made of the

problems native speakers of one language will encounter in learning the other

language.

Contrastive analysis concerns itself with those features in one’s first language,

which will hinder his learning of a target language and then applying appropriate

solutions to enhance language learning. Contrastive analysis, therefore aims at

predicting and describing the patterns of the target language which will constitute

learning problems for second language learners.

S. P. Corder opines that: “when a learner is learning a target language, he is not

learning language for the first time but rather he is learning a particular realization or

manifestation of human language” (225).

 39

In other words, he is trying to use a “new linguistics data” which is different from that

of his mother tongue to communicate with people.

Fries as quoted in Lado confirms the above view by saying that: “individual tend to

transfer the forms and meanings and the distribution of forms and meanings of their

native language to the foreign language and culture both productively when

attempting to speak the language and to act in the culture” (9).

Fries contends also that: “the problem of learning second language do not arise

because of difficulty in the features of the new language itself but because of the

already existing habits formed as a result of the first language acquisition” (9).

In view of this, the learner already has existing habits and these existing habits have

formed a set of blind spot in receiving any new language.

According to Adimuo, “once a habit is formed, it is difficult to overcome”

(34). But Okoli says that, “one can learn two habits one after another without

dropping any of the two habits.” Lado further explains that, “the elements that are

similar to the learner’s native language will be simple for him, while those that are

different will be difficult” (2). To him, similarity is related to simplicity while

differences are related to difficulty.

Whiteman and Jackson quoted in James do not agree with Lado’s view, they

say that relative similarity rather than difference is directly related to levels of

difficulty” (180). Therefore, the similarities and differences will influence his learning

because he is learning the target language against the background of the mother

tongue and because of this the learner normally refers back to his mother tongue when

he is in difficulty.
 40

Corder holds the justification of contrastive analysis on its usefulness in

“explanatory power” (279). Therefore, if contrastive analysis fails to explain anything

about the nature of the language data, then it is not worth the labour expended on it.

Although, contrastive analysis still holds as a useful method of predicting

learners problems, linguists have criticized its “linguistic inadequacy.” For instance,

Mukattash explains that: “it is possible to establish patterns of difficulty for learners

of a given native language with the use of different techniques and elicitation

procedures through linguistic and non-linguistic points of view” (354).

He says further, “the patterns will vary on their degree of intensity according to

multitude of psychological, pedagogical, social and nature factors” (354).

Nikel states that, “contrastive linguistics in itself is quite inadequate as the

basis for total language programme. Likewise, teachers can depend solely on

contrastive analysis as the root for language teaching” (20) that is why Johnson states

“contrastive analysis is unnecessary since it can only reveal what experienced

teachers know already” (16). Nevertheless, for the fact that not all teachers are

experienced, they need contrastive analysis especially in foreign language teaching.

He suggests using contrastive analysis to explain difficulties already found rather than

the prediction of such problems or difficulties. He further points out that contrastive

analysis should be integrated with error analysis, as this should better form the

explanatory stage in error analysis.

Contrastive analysis, therefore, is important because it highlights structures of

the languages compared. This may have served as the basis for Buren’s argument that

“contrastive study fails to explain anything about the nature of the language data, it

scarcely seems worth the time and labour that has been expended on it” (12).
 41

Ferguson also points out another importance of contrastive analysis that:

“contrastive analysis of any two languages will offer a good basis for the preparation

of texts and instructional materials for the planning of courses and used to overcome

the huddles of teaching” (5-7).

Carl in highlighting the importance of contrastive analysis says, “it can predict

the learners’ errors” (74). Cook, recognizing the ability of contrastive analysis in

solving the problems of a language learner, states that:

The knowledge of a foreign language is seen in the mastery of the

differences in the outstanding system in the L1 of the learner and the
foreign language. This can only be achieved through contrastive
analysis of the two languages involved (44).
This means that contrastive analysis could produce accurate descriptions of individual

languages, and therefore is a suitable theory for this study.

2.4 Empirical Studies

This section of the research work presents the empirical studies related to the

two languages under discussion.

a. Empirical Studies on Igbo Affixation

Some commendable contributions have been made by Igbo scholars with

reference to affixation in the Igbo language.

Emenanjo, (58) in his Element of Modern Igbo Grammar discusses

extensively the features of Igbo morphology. This includes: affixes, enclitics and

tonal morphemes. He says that “in an agglutinating language like Igbo, the smallest

meaningful grammatical elements are enclitics and tonal morphemes”. He also says

that “Igbo affixes can be prefixes, suffixes, and most Igbo prefixes are clearly

derivation in deriving nominal (nouns) from verbs”.

 42

Emenanjo, (215) notes further that a prefix may have one or more forms

conditioned by vowel harmony. According to him, the agentive can be derived by

prefixing the harmonizing morpheme to the verb root as could be seen in the

following illustration.

29.

Prefixes Verb roots Derived words English meanings

O Kwu Okwuu Talker
O ru oruu Worker

Emenanjo, (75) in readings on the Igbo verbs avers that “extensional is used in

African linguistics for referring to elements usually affixes, which function

principally as meaning modifiers”. Thus, the presence or absence of an extensional

suffix changes the meaning of a sentence.

Again, Emenanjo, (141-142) in his Element of Modern Igbo Grammar

acknowledges the fact that Igbo verb is the only form class with excess lexical items

in varying morphological structures and equally of varying syntactic behaviour have

been derived. For instance from the verb -ga we have the following:

30. -ga go (base form)

-iga to go (infinitive)

-qgaa goer (noun)

-aga going (present participle)

Equally, from the verb -mx we have the following:

-mx learn (base form)

-imx to learn (infinitive)

 43

-amx learning (present participle)

-qmxx learner (noun)

Ogbalu and Emenanjo (139) treat Igbo suffixes in a grammatical description.

They see it from the roles they perform in verb forms and in verbal derivatives.

According to them, “Igbo suffixes fall into two major classes: inflectional and

extensional”.

Mbah, (21) confirms the above assertion. “Igbo has been described as a verb

language. This qualification is to press home the fact that Igbo verb plays a vital role

in the language … Many words may be formed from the verbs.”

Anagbogu, (72) discusses extensively the morphology of Igbo. According to

him, derivational morphology of Igbo is mostly uni-directional in the sense that it is

from the verb that all words are formed. He discusses the morphemes of the Igbo

language saying that the bound morphemes are categorized into prefix, suffix,

circumfix, and interfix.

31. Examples of prefixes

Prefixes Verb roots Derived words Translated forms

a gx agx reading
e de ede writing

Agbedo, (91) discusses the affixation of the Igbo language. He says that in

Igbo language, “prefixation is verb-based. No other word class undergoes this kind of

morphological process”.

32. Examples;

Prefixes Verb roots Derived words

[ si isi
 44

i gba igba

Green and Igwe, (53) discuss the suffix of the Igbo language. According to

them, “suffix is mostly verb-based.” They say further that “the majority of suffixes in

Igbo are inflectional. Some function as derivational suffixes in which case, they act as

meaning modifiers”.

33. Examples,

Verbs Suffixes Inflected words

bi e bie

Furthermore, Green and Igwe, (73) are of the view that “the verb is

distinguished formally from the other parts of speech. In fact, it is only one in which

affixation is bound”. In studying Igbo affixes, Green and Igwe describe Igbo suffixes

as merely lexical items which are neither inflectional nor derivational but serve only

as meaning modifiers of the verb to which they are affixed.

Nwachukwu, (68) says that “Igbo has –rv suffix, negative inflectional

suffixes, perfective affirmative/negative suffixes and so on. Based on these, Igbo has

three types of suffixes: inflectional, extensional suffixes and enclitics”.

34. Examples of inflected suffixes Igbo

Verb roots Suffixes Inflected words

gx rx gxrx

ñx rx ñxrx

 45

Nwachukwu, (68) says that extensional suffix is borrowed from Emenanjo

where it is used to denote those suffixes which have a wide scope of occurrence.”

Nwachukwu, (63) maintains that, “a great many affixes in Igbo are no more

than lexical item … a handful of them are associated with certain tenses” is

unwittingly saying that there are two classes of affixes in Igbo: lexical and

inflectional. Finally, using function as his basis for classification, Ogbalu has four

classes of suffixes: negative suffixes, adverbial suffixes, prepositional suffixes and

tense suffixes. Ogbalu’s negative and tense suffixes can be collapsed into inflectional

suffixes while prepositional and adverbial suffixes become non-inflectional or lexical.

In discussing verbs in Igbo, Nwachukwu, (17) points out that, “the verb is the

most important and prolific category in the Igbo language. The language does a lot of

things with the verb form.” He gives instance that Igbo verb is unique in the sense

that it is the only category that accepts inflection.

Moreover, Nwachukwu, (17) stipulate that, “the verb can be inflected both for

tense and aspect. In order to express the appropriate item and meaning, an Igbo form

must have the appropriate suffix”.

Aniude, (28) focuses his attention on the use of the –rv markers. Of the four

-rv he identifies, he claims that only two of them are time markers and inflectional.

These according to him are the –rv2 stative and the –rv1 past.

Umeh, (18) in his work, “Inflectional Affixes of Igbo Verbs” makes a review

of the inflectional affixes in some dialects. He asserts that inflectional affixes include

only those affixes that can be attached to verb stems, which perform grammatical

function. All extensions, enclitic with semantic values are not therefore inflectional.
 46

In other words, inflectional affixes are those that help to mark out the different

aspects or tense of verbs like the past tense, stative and perfective aspect.

From the studies above, inflectional and derivational affixes are sometimes

similar in nature, but have different functions. Inflectional affixes do not change the

word class of a word. It is a change made in form of a word to express its relation to

other words in a sentence. Derivation on the other hand, changes the meaning and the

base of the word sometimes.

In the Igbo language, verbs play big role. It is the only part of speech that

affixation is bound. Hence, inflectional and derivational processes in the Igbo

language are got by the appropriate affixes on the verb.

b. Empirical Studies on English Affixation

A lot of valuable empirical works have been carried out in English affixation

processes by some distinguished scholars.

Gleason, (53) states that, “morphemes are the smallest meaningful units in the

structure of the language”. He adds that the smallest meaningful unit means a unit

which cannot be divided without destroying or drastically altering the meaning.

Because they are the minimal meaningful units, they are attached to the stem or root,

adding them or removing them alter the meaning of the word.

Gleason, (58) also states that, “the broadest and the most comprehensive

classes of morphemes in English are roots and affixes. Words like walk, talk, are

root. Such morphemes as –s, -ing, dis-, in-, -ed, and in- are affixes”. In general,

affixes are subsiding to roots, while roots are the basis of such constructions as words.

Meathan, (189) classifies affixes in two ways, “by position and by function.

Classification by position yields the following: prefix, and suffix. Classification of

 47

function according to him yields two main types: derivational and inflectional

affixes”.

Anagbogu, (68) in the Grammar of Igbo Nominalization discusses extensively

the morphology of English. According to him, the derivational morphology of

English is multi-directional. He discusses morpheme saying that bound morphemes

are categorised into: prefix, suffix, infix, circumfix and interfix. But the English

language has only prefixes and suffixes. According to him, affixes can be classified

into inflectional and derivational affixes.

According to Lyons, (196), “inflection is a change made in the forms of a

word to express its relation to other words, in the sentences as found in declension of

nouns, adjectives, and in the conjugation of verb.” An inflectional affix is that which

performs a grammatical function without changing the parts of speech of the word to

which it is attached. All the inflectional affixes in the English language according to

him are suffixes.

Bloomfield, (222), refers to inflection as, “the outer layer of the morphology

of English word form”. This means that inflectional affix is added when all the

derivational affixes must have been added.

Akmajian, et al. (44), refer to derivational suffixes as, “the inner layer of the

word form”. They state that “derivational affixes often change the part of speech of

the base morpheme.” Thus, read is a verb, but readable is an adjective. They further

note that some derivational affixes do not change category for example, charge and

recharge. This type of derivation is known as class maintainimg derivational suffix.

They further note that the other derivation is class changing derivation. This

derivation creates a new word from the existing one.

 48

According to Umera, et al. (93), “inflection in the English language is a major

category of morphology”. They state further, “when suffixes are added to words to

realize morpheme such as present, past, present participle and plural, they are said to

be inflectional.” The inflectional verbs affixes according to them do not change the

word class of the verbs. Examples:

35. Play plays playing played

Sing sings singing sang

All these underlined are inflectional affixes.

Finally, Ballard, (78), discusses verbal inflectional affixes of English

language. He states that:

among the four verbal inflections in the English language, only two of
them have both regular and irregular forms. Those are past tense and
past participle. The third person singular takes the –s morpheme while
the first person and second person will take the base form of the verb
which is the uninflected stem.
According to him, the following paradigm shows clearly what he means:

36. Singular first person: I walk Plural first person: We walk

Second person: You walk second person: You walk

Third person: he/she, it walks third person: They walk

2.5 Summary of the Literature Review

In a nutshell, affixation has been seen by many authors as the process of word

formation in both languages. Affixation in Igbo comprises of prefixes, suffixes,

circumfixes, and interfixes. When these affixes are added to a word in Igbo, they add

extra meaning to the already existing word.

On the other hand, affixation in English comprises of prefixes and suffixes.

Prefixes do not generally alter the word class of the base. The suffix can be

inflectional or derivational.
 49

All the inflectional affixes in the Igbo language perform grammatical functions

such as tense, aspect, mood, negation, and so on. Whereas the addition of suffixes in

the English language can create new words and as well perform grammatical

functions. All the inflectional affixes of both languages are all suffixes. The

derivational suffix of English always changes the word class of the base to which it is

added.

The English past tense and perfect tense suffixes have both regular and

irregular ways of forming their respective tenses but in the Igbo language, the

formation of past tense and aspect is regular. That is, past tense marker is always –rv

and the perfect aspect marker is -la.

Finally, this work uses contrastive analysis as its theoretical framework. This

is because it is the only theory that adequately explains this work.

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CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter explains the procedures and methods used in eliciting information

for the study. Therefore, the discussions will focus on the following:

i. Research design

ii. Data collection Technique

iii. Method of data analysis

3.2 Research Design

Design can be described as an outline, a general arrangement or plan from

which something may be made. According to Nworgu, “a research design is a plan or

blue print which specifies how data relating to a given problem should be collected

and analysed. It provides the procedural outline for the conduct of any investigation”

(67).

This study uses a descriptive research design since the aim of this work is to

do a contrastive study of affixation process of the two languages under investigation.

A descriptive research design involves gathering data that describes events and then

organizes, tabulates, depicts and describes the data collected. According to Eze,

descriptive design studies are “mainly concerned with describing events as they are

without any manipulation of what is being observed. Any study which seeks merely

to find what is and describes it is descriptive” (69).

Thus, descriptive research design is an appropriate research plan that will

effectively analyse the data collected.

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3.3 Data Collection Technique

The researcher collects data from various sources, including text books,

journals and articles in the English and Igbo languages. The researcher therefore,

makes a good number of visits to various libraries, especially the Nnamdi Azikiwe

Library and Department of Linguistics and Igbo library University of Nigeria,

Nsukka.

3.4 Method of Data Analysis

One of the aims of this study is to contrast the Igbo and English language

affixation. Contrastive analysis is the method used in the analysis of these data. In

trying to find out their differences and similarities, Igbo and English affixation are

compared so as to postulate the degree of possible interference the learner will have in

learning the English language as a second language or vise versa. In other words,

predicting the possible problems involved in learning both languages, especially the

English language. It is important to note that contrastive analysis is predictive in

nature and it is not complete without listing these problems emanating when the

learner is learning the target language.

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CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

4.1 Introduction

In this chapter, data for this study are presented and analysed based on the

research questions that guide the study. For the presentation and analysis of data, the

research questions are followed sequentially.

Research Question I

What is the Extent of Similarity between the English and Igbo Verbal

Affixation?

Verbal affixation is the process of adding affixes (bound morphemes) to verb

root to form new words, and to express grammatical categories such as tense, aspect,

negation and mood.

The similarities between the English and Igbo verbal affixation are stated as follows:

(a) The verbal affixation in both the English and Igbo languages can be

derivational or inflectional.

(b) The verbal derivational affixations in both languages are used in creating new

words.

(c) The verbal inflectional affixations in both languages perform grammatical

functions such as: tense, aspect, mood and negation as the case may be.

(d) Both the English and Igbo languages have prefix and suffix that are affixed to

the verb. These stated similarities are illustrated with examples in the

following pages.
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4.2 The Verbal Derivational Affixation in English

The verbal derivational affixation is the process of adding affixes to the verbs

to create new words. Verbal derivational affixation can be prefix or suffix. The

following are examples of verbal derivational affixation in English.

4.2.1 Conversion of Verbs to Nouns

The following suffixes are added to verbs to form nouns: -ment, -ion, -ant,

-er, -ism, and so on.

37. Examples,

Verb roots Suffixes Nouns

defile -ment defilement

repress -ion repression

build -er builder

resolve -tion resolution

depend -ant dependant

ignore -ance ignorance

convert -sion conversion

4.2.2 Conversion of Verbs to Adjectives

The following suffixes are added to verbs to form adjectives: -able, -ble, -ous,

-ive, -ory, -al, -ant, -ent, -some, -ful and so on.

 54

38. Examples,

Verb roots Suffixes Adjectives

accept -able acceptable

comfort -able comfortable

honour -able honourable

educate -able educable

declaim -ory declamatory

criticise -al critical

please -ant pleasant

mourn -ful mournful

cumber -some cumbersome

4.2.3 The following prefixes are added to the verb roots to derive new words: -

counter, un-, over-, dis- and so on.

39. Prefixes Verb roots Derived Words

counter- point counter point

un- fasten unfasten

over- achieve over-achieve

over- act over-act

dis- approve disapprove

dis- appear disappear

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4.3 The Verbal Inflectional Affixation in English

The verbal inflectional affixation is a process of adding an affix to the verb to

express grammatical information about a word such as in formation of tense and

aspect as in: the addition of –ed to the verb play and the past tense played is realised.

Such affixation consequently never changes the lexical category of the word they are

attached to. Examples of verbal inflectional affixation in the English language are:

40. Verbal inflection Regular affix used to express category

Third person singular -s
present i) It rains
ii) Ifeoma writes well.
Past tense -ed: paint/ painted
He painted the house.
Perfect aspect -ed/en
i) –ed: cook/cooked
She has cooked the food.
ii) -en: take/taken
She has taken her book.
Progressive or continuous -ing: fall/ falling
aspect Write/ writing
She is writing.

These are the four basic verbal inflections in the English language besides the

base form. “The inflectional suffixes always come at the end of a word in English no

other morpheme can usually be added after an inflectional morpheme.” (Tomori, 33).

Generally, in these forms, the third person singular is marked with - s. It has

three allomorphs /s/, /z/ and /z/, which are phonologically conditioned. The /-s/

form appear after a voiceless consonant. Examples of some voiceless consonants are

/p, t, k, f, / s, , ʧ/
 56

41. Examples,

(a) /t/ as in eats /i:ts/

(b) /p/ as in stops /stps/

The /- z/ form occurs after voiced sounds that is, either after voiced consonants or

vowels. (This is because all vowels are voiced).

42. Examples of some voiced sounds are /b, d, g, r, , l, m, n, , әu, / as in:

(a) goes /guz/

(b) does /dz/

(c) tells /telz/

(d) tendons /tendnz/

While /z/ form appears after sibilants (that is noisy fricatives and affricates).

43. Examples of some sibilants are /s, z, , , , / as in:

(a) wishes /wz/

(b) polishes /plz/

(c) kisses /ksz/

The -ing participle form has only -ing as its allomorph, while the ed1 past form

and ed2 has /t/, /d/ and /d/ as their allomorphs which are also phonologically

conditioned. /t/ occurs after voiceless consonants such as in /p, t, k/ etc, as in:

44. (a) walked /w:kt/

(b) talked /t:kt/

/d/ occurs after vowel or voiced consonants such as /b, d, r, , z, , d/ etc

As in:

45. (a). robbed /rbd/

(b). bowed /bad/

 57

/d/ occurs after /t/ or /d/ as in

46. (a). concluded /knklu:dd/

(b). rented /rentd/

The four basic verbal inflectional forms may be illustrated in a paradigmatic

relationship. A paradigm has been defined as “the system of morphemic variations

which is correlated with a parallel system of variations in environment”. According

Francis quoted in Tomori, (21) The paradigmatic representations of the verbs are

shown as follows:

47.

The base form Third person singular Present participle Past tense Past participle

cook cooks cooking cooked cooked

walk walks walking walked walked

call Calls calling called called

These forms are further illustrated as follows:

4.3.1 The Base Form

The base form is not marked with any form of suffix rather it retains the verb

stem.

48. Examples,

cook

walk

call

The base form always goes with other forms of personal pronouns with the exception

of the third person singular pronoun to express simple present tense. Examples,
 58

49. (a) I walk to school everyday.

(b) You eat every morning. Don’t you?

(c) They call her names.

4.3.2 The –s Form or Third Person Singular Present Form

This verbal inflection goes with the third person singular noun or pronoun.

The third person singular pronouns are: he, she, and it. This form has three

allomorphs /s/, /z/ and /iz/ which are phonologically conditioned, as already

explained. Examples,

50. (a). He eats rice always.

(b). She cries often.

(c) . He plays football often.

(d) It wags its tail whenever it is happy.

The suffix affixed to the base forms of the verbs is -s.

4.3..3 The Regular Past Tense Form or -ed

The regular past tense form is marked with the suffix -ed and it signifies that

the action has taken place at a particular point in the past. This regular past tense form

-ed it added to the base form of the verb. According to Berk (101), “past tense is used

in conjunction with events that are over and done with”.

Examples,

51. (a) He jumped through the window.

(b) She rearranged herself in another pose.

(c) He complained bitterly about the incident.

 59

All these sentences in (51) above show that the actions of the verbs have taken place

and they are therefore in their past tense respectively.

4.3.4 The Irregular Past Tense Forms

Apart from the regular way of forming past tense in English, there are other

irregular ways of doing so. According to Berk (100), he lists the following forms that

can be used to form past tense, apart from the -ed ending.

52. Examples,

(a) -t ending bent, lent, sent

(b) vowel change sang, sank, ran, swam, fell, threw slid found

(c) vowel change + -t ending sought, bought, taught, wept, kept, slept crept

(d) no change cut, put, split, shut, quit

(e) suppletive form went, was/were

53. Examples of Sentences with Irregular Past Tense Forms

(a) You sang a song.

(b) They built a house.

(c) She slept for many hours.

(d) The girl cut her finger.

(e) The boy was there when it happened.

These sentences in (53) above, show the irregular ways of forming simple past tense

in the English language.

4.3.5 The English Aspect

According to Yadugiri, “Aspect is like tense, is a grammatical feature of

verbs” (329). “Aspect describes the time scale of a verb – it establishes whether the

action or state of a verb is complete or in progress”. This is according to Thorne (11).

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There are two types of aspect in the English language: (a) the perfect aspect and (b)

the progressive aspect.

(A) The Perfect Aspect in English

The regular perfect aspect is constructed using auxiliary verb have/has and

inflectional suffix –ed past participle Within this aspect, we have: present perfect

aspect and past perfect. This study concentrates on the present perfect aspect.

Present Perfect Aspect

The regular present perfect aspect in the English language is indicated by the

combination of (auxiliary verb have/has + -ed past participle). This aspect is used

to talk about the past in relation to the present. It suggests a connection between

something that happened in the past and in a present time, often referring to an action

in the past which has a result now.

54. Example of Sentences In Present Perfect Aspect In Regular Forms

(a) Your parents have arrived.
(b) I have worked .
(c) She has answered half the questions.
4.3.6 The Irregular Ways of Forming Present Perfect Aspect

According to Berk (110-111), the various forms taken by irregular past

participle with the exception of -ed are as follows:

55. Examples,

(a) -en ending written, spoken, stolen, bitten, taken

(b) vowel change rung, sung, drunk, stung, swum, sunk, fed.

(c) no change cost, quit, cut, shut, put

(d) vowel change + {-t} ending sought, bought, taught, slept, kept, wept

crept
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56. Examples of Present Perfect Aspect in Irregular Forms

(a) She has put the tools in the drawer.

(b) I have taught here for 25 years.

(c) They have drunk the tea.

(d) You have spoken well.

(B) The Progressive Aspect/Continuous

The progressive aspect is indicated by a combination of auxiliary verb to be

and the inflectional suffix -ing (present participle). The progressive aspect is used in

two senses: (i) the present progressive aspect (ii) the past progressive aspect

(i) The present progressive aspect/ Present continuous.

This aspect is formed by auxiliary verb to be present form + -ing (present

participle). The present progressive aspect is used for actions that have begun but

not finished. That is, actions that are still in progress. The verb phrase patterns for

present progressive are as follows:

57.

(1) First person: I am + present participle: I am driving home.

(2) Second person singular: You are + present participle: You are singing a

song.

(3) Third person singular: He/she/it + present participle: He/she is sighing

loudly.

(4) First person plural: We are + present participle: We are travelling to

Europe.

(5) The second person plural: You are + present participle: You all are
 62

complaining about nothing.

(6) Third person plural: They are + present participle: They are bothering

the neighbours.

Present progressive aspect is used for actions happening now, extended actions,

repetitive and irritating actions occurring for a limited time.

58. Examples,

(a) My husband is washing the car.

(b) She is studying English linguistics.

(c) We are driving to Lagos tomorrow.

(d) You are always bugging your sister.

(e) I am moving some furniture this weekend.

(ii) Past Progressive Aspect/Past Continuous.

The past progressive is formed by a past tense form of the verb to be + -ing

(present participle). This aspect, expresses on going action or state in the past. The

following are the verb phrase patterns for the past progressive.

59.

(1) First person singular: I was + present participle: I was making a

pot of stew.

(2) Second person singular: You were + present participle: Were you

burning the garbage?

(3) The third person singular: He/she/it was + present participle: The

man was wearing a red shirt.

(4) First person plural: We were + present participle: We were

raising chickens.
 63

(5) Second person plural: You were + present participle: You were

publishing a news letter.

(6) The third person plural: They were + present participle: They were

supplying goods to them.

4.4 The Verbal Derivational Affixation in the Igbo Language

As I have mentioned earlier, the Igbo language is a verb centred language and

so derivational processes involve the verbs. Agbedo sees, “derivation as the process

whereby new words are formed from existing words” (87). It consists in adding to a

root or stems an affix or affixes. According to Emenanjo (45), in Readings on the

Igbo Verb, the process of derivation in the Igbo language includes the following:

4.4.1 Prefixation
In the Igbo language, according to Agbedo (91), “prefixation is verb based. No
other word class undergoes this kind of morphological process.” These syllabic
nasals: m/n below function as prefixes Examples, according to Agbedo (92);

60.
Prefixes Verb roots Derived words English meanings
n ri  nri  ‘food’
n kx  nkx  ‘fire wood’
m ma  mma ‘beauty’

Sentence: Q mara mma.

4.4.2 Reduplication

Reduplication, according to Osuagwu et al. (59), “is a process by which a root

or stem is repeated in the derivation of a new form”. Reduplication is any aspect of

derivational process which can be partial or complete. The Igbo language makes use
 64

of this new form of yielding device. Igbo verbs are reduplicated to form nouns.

According to Mbah, (21) and Emenanjo (45) in his readings on the Igbo verb the

following are examples of reduplicated verb forms.

61.

Igbo words English meanings Igbo sentences English sentences

agx reading Q na agx He/She is
akwxkwq. reading.
agxmagx text book E nwere There is text book
agxmagx on Igbo culture.
Qd[naala
Igbo.
ede writing Q nà ede ihe. He/She is writing.
ederede Essay/composition Xmx The students/pupils are
akwxkwq na writing
ede essay/composition.
edemede.
eri eating Q na-eri He/She is
nri. eating.
eri-eri a miser Q bx eri- He/she is a
eri. miser.
orii eater Q bx orii. He/She eats a
lot.
oriri banquet Ha gara oriri. They went for a banquet

4.4.3 Prefixation and Suffixation

This is another aspect of derivation in Igbo. For instance, the agentive marker

{o/q} in the Igbo language when added to a verb root gives rise to a noun.

62. Examples,

Prefixes Verb roots Suffixes Derived words English meanings

o je e ojee goer
o ri i orii  eater
o me e omee doer
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o de e odee writer

63. Igbo sentences Translated forms

(a): odee ahx dere akwxkwq qhxx. The

writer has written a new

book.

(b) òjéè abàtálá. The goer has returned.

(c) òrúù áhx àrxlá qrx m nyèrè yá. The labourer has

finished the

work I gave him.

4.4.4 Prefixation, Interfixation and Reduplication

This is another aspect of derivation in Igbo.

64. Examples,

Prefixes Verb Interfixes Reduplicated Derived English meanings

roots forms words
e ri  m eri  erimeri food/eatables

e kwu m ekwu ekwume speech
kwu
à gx m àgx àgxmàgx text

4.4.5 Circumfixation

Another aspect of derivation in Igbo according to Anagbogu et al. is

“circumfixation” (102). As have explained circumfixation earlier on as a

morphological process whereby bound morphemes are attached to the root or stem

both initially or finally. Circumfix is a combination of a prefix and a suffix that attach

to a base simultaneously to express a single meaning or category. The circumfixal

frame in the Igbo language according to Anagbogu et al. is A/E – mx.

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65. Examples,

Circumfixes Derived words English meanings

esi… nri esi-mu- act of cooking
nri
aga…ije aga-mụ- act of walking
ije
eyi…egwụ eyi-m- act of frightening
egwụ

4.5 The Verbal Inflectional Affixation in the Igbo Language

The verbal inflectional affixation is the process of adding affixes on the verbs

to express grammatical categories such as tense, aspect, mood and negation.

4.5.1 The Igbo Tense

Tense is any of the form of verbs that may be used to show the time of the

action or state expressed by the verb. Aniude states that, “among the four –rvs, only

two of them are time markers and are inflectional” (28). These according to him are “-

rv2 stative and –rv1 past” (28).

4.5.2 The -rv1 Simple Past Tense in Igbo.

The formation of simple past in the Standard Igbo is by adding the suffix –rv1

ie (r+ vowel) which is the past time marker to the verb root. According to

Nwachukwu, (65), in readings on the Igbo verb, “majority of tense/aspect markers in

both central and other dialects of Igbo are suffixes. Of those the most enigmatic in

terms of occurrence are the open vowel suffix and, perhaps, the various categories of

the –rv suffixes”.

66. Examples,

Verb Suffixes Inflected words Translated forms

 67

roots
gbu  ru gburu ‘killed’
kq kq kqrq ‘cultivated’
me  re mere ‘did’
za ra zara ‘swept’
rx  rx zxrx ‘bought’
sí Rí sírí cooked

67. Igbo sentences English meanings

(a): O gburu agwq. He/she killed a snake.
(b) O kòrò jí. He/she cultivated yam.
(c) O mèrè álū. He/she committed abomination.
4.5.3. The –rv2 Stative Present Tense

Nwachukwu in Readings on the Igbo… states that, “The –rv2 suffix combines

with stative verbs to express a stative present meaning. It must be distinguished from

–rv1 past suffix with which it does co-occur” (66).

68. Examples,

Verb Suffixes Inflected words Igbo sentences Translated

roots forms
nwe  re nwere O nwere He/she is wise.
uche.
si  ri siri O siri He/she is strong.
ike.
tò Rò tòrò O tòrò He/she is tall.
όgόlόgό.
 68

bù Rù bùrù O bùrù íbù. He/she is fat.

4.5.4 The Igbo Aspect

An aspect is a grammatical category associated with verbs that expresses

temporal view of the event or state expressed by the verb. According to Nwachukwu

(69), “aspect deals with such questions as whether an action or event is completed,

starting or on going and so on”. It shows time duration and is indicated by verbal

affixes.

(a) The Perfective Affirmative Aspect

The Igbo language has the perfective affirmative inflectional verbal suffix

marker -la. (Apart from this, this suffix –la is used to identify the imperative negative

form). Perfective aspect expresses action that has been completed. This suffix -la is

affixed to the verb root to express perfective aspect.

69. Examples,
Prefixes Verb roots Suffixes Suffixes Inflected Igbo sentences English sentences
words
e rì e la eriela Nd[ ahx Those people have
 eriela eaten food.
 nri.
a b[a  la ab[ala Ha They have come to
 ab[ala school.

akwxkwq
.
e bú té la ebutel Ngqz[ Ngoz[ has brought it.
a ebutel
a ya.
(b) The Perfective Negative Aspect with Suffix {-beghi/-begh[}

70. Examples,

Prefixes Verb Suffixes Suffixes Inflected Igbo sentences English sentences

roots words
a hx  bé gh[ ahxbeg Xnx You have not suffered.
 69

h[ ahxbegh
[ ihe.
- rute be gh[ rutebegh O He/she has not arrived
[ rutebegh by the time we left.
[ oge
any[
jiri
hapx.
e ru be gh[ erubegh Oge It is not yet time.
[ erubegh
[.

4.5.5 The Imperative Affirmative Mood

This mood is used to give an order in affirmative sense. This is usually

realized by applying the open vowel suffix with four possible realisation according to

vowel harmony {o/q} and {e/a}. Any of these suffixes is affixed to the verb root.

71. Examples,

Verb Suffixes Inflected Igbo sentences Translated forms

roots words
si  e sie sie nri. Cook food.
r[ a rie rie nri. Eat food.
za  a zaa zaa Sweep the house.
xlq.
rú o rùό rùό qrx. Work.
gό o gòό gòό yá. Buy it.

4.5.6 The Imperative Negative Mood

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Apart from the perfective aspect, the suffix -la is used to identify the

imperative negative mood. This mood gives order in a negative sense

72. Examples,

Prefixes Verb Suffix Suffixes Inflected Igbo sentences Translated forms

roots words
a ga  la ágālā Agala Do not go to the
ahia. market.
a za  la ázala Azala Do not sweep the
xlq. house.
e go  la egola Egola Do not buy this thing.
ihe a.
a rá chá la árāchālā Arachala Do not lick.
.

4.5.7 Negative Inflectional Suffix

This is subcategorized into negative construction and negative imperative

(a) The Negative Suffix

The negative inflectional suffix is marked with the negative suffix -ghi/-gh[.

This suffix is used in negative construction. That is, a sentence that gives the opposite

in meaning of an idea.

73. Examples,

Verb roots Suffixes Inflected Igbo sentences Translated forms

words
mx gh[ mxgh[ Q He/she did not study.
mxgh[
akwxkwq.
je  ghi Jegh[ O jeghi He/she did not go to
ahia. the market.
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(b) The Negative Inflectional Imperative

This inflection -la is used to give order in a negative sense.

74. Examples,

Prefixes Verb Suffixes Inflected Igbo sentences Translated forms

roots words
a ga  la  ágālā Ágālā Don’t go to the market.
ah[a.
a za  la  azala Azala Don’t sweep the house.
xlq.
e go  la  egola Égōlā íhé à. Don’t buy this thing.

From the above, we observe that all the inflectional verbal affixes in both the

English and Igbo languages perform grammatical functions such as tense, aspect,

mood, and negation as the case may be. Also, all the English and Igbo verbal

derivational affixation create new words.

Research Question II

To what extent does the English and Igbo Verbal Affixation differ?

(a) The English past tense and perfect aspect have both regular and irregular ways

of forming their tense and present aspect but that of the Igbo language is

regular though it has few other ways of doing so. Their simple past is always -

rv and the perfect aspect is -la which is regular too.

(b) In the English language, there is an inflectional suffix -s for the third person

singular but such does not exist in the Igbo language.

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(c) There are many prefixes in the English language unlike in Igbo where verbs

are limited to a few vowels that are conditioned by vowel harmony and in

some cases syllabic nasal prefixes.

(d) In the English language, the affixation processes are only prefixation and

suffixation while in the Igbo language, it uses prefixation, suffixation,

interfixation and circumfixation. These differences are illustrated with

examples in the following pages.

4.6 The Formation of Past Tense and Perfect Aspect in English

The formation of a simple past tense in English is by the addition of the

regular inflection –ed to the base form of the verb. Also, the regular perfect aspect of

the English language is expressed by adding has/have with -ed suffix.

75. Examples of sentences with regular past tense –ed

(a) He travelled by car.

(b) They named their first daughter after her grand mother.

(c) It isn’t fair! He exclaimed angrily.

76. Examples of sentences with regular perfect aspect -ed

(a) We have finished the work.

(b) Mrs. Nweke has packed her children’s clothes into a box.

According to Ballard (76), the English language has some irregular ways of

expressing past tense and perfect aspect (past participle). These irregularities are

expressed as follows:
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77.

Types of irregularity Explanation Verbal Past Present Past

present tense participle
Vowel mutation or The vowel run ran swim swum
change of stem. That within the come came sing sung
is, word flee fled
Change of stem vowel changes meet met
with unusual suffix or stick stuck
past tense irregular fly flew
inflection (umlaut) get got write written
break broke do done
feel felt break broken
kneel knelt fly flew
Zero inflection/or zero The past hit hit hit hit
marking (no suffix, no tense form is beat beat beat beat
stem change) the same as cut cut cut cut
the present put put put put
tense form broadcast broadcast broadcast broadcast
let let let let
shut shut let let
cast cast cast cast

78. Another way English verbs can be irregular is by:

Suppletion (instead of a suffix, the whole word changes)

Verb be: am, are, is was, were, been, being

Verb do: does, did, do

Verb have: has, had, have

 74

Go: went – gone and so on.

79. Examples of sentences with past tense irregular forms

(a) I came to school on time.

(b) The policeman put a road block.

(c) The bird flew away.

80. Examples of sentences with present perfect aspect/past participle

irregular forms

(a) I have eaten.

(b) She has put on the television.

(c) Emeka has done his homework.

(d) He bought a new house.

A general summary of the irregular verbs that occur both with –ed1 and –ed2, are seen

as follows:

The first example is where the v-ed1, is identical with v-ed2. There is suffixation but

it is –t ending.

81. Examples,

Verb Verb –ed1 Verb –ed2

burn burnt burnt

bring brought brought

creep crept crept

buy bought bought

teach taught taught

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Another class of verbs are the ones that are identical in v-ed1 and v-ed2. They

are regarded as zero morphemes [0].

82. Examples
Verb Verb –ed1 Verb –ed2
cut cut cut
let let let
shut shut shut

Another set is where the v-ed1 is identical with v-ed2 formed by vowel change.

83. Examples,

Verb Verb –ed1 Verb –ed2

feed fed fed
hang hung hung
win won won
find found found
sit sat sat
stand stood stood

Another form of the verbs is where v-ed1 and v-ed2 are irregular but the ed2 is

replaced by {en/n} suffixes.

84. Examples,

Verb Verb –ed1 Verb –ed2

break broke broken
steal stole stolen
bite bit bitten
throw threw thrown
take took taken
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And finally, we have another form of irregularity where the –ed1, and –ed2 are formed

by different vowel change.

85. Examples,

Verb Verb –ed1 Verb –ed2

begin began begun

ring rang rung

sing sang sung

run ran run

4.7 The Formation of Past Tense and Perfect Aspect in Igbo

The past tense is the form of a verb use to describe actions in the past. The

formation of a simple past tense in Igbo is regular and is by the addition of (r+ vowel)

which is the past time marker to the verb root. On the other hand, perfect aspect

expresses action that has been completed. The perfective aspect is formed by the

addition of the -la suffix to the verb root. Perfective aspect expresses action that has

been completed.

86. Examples of Simple Past Tense Formation are:

Verb roots Suffixes Inflected words Igbo sentences Translated forms

b[a  ra b[ara Ha They came to a feast.
b[ara
oriri.
ga  ra gara Ibe Ibe went to the market.
gara
 77

ah[a.

The Igbo language also has some exceptions to the rule of past tense formation

using the –rv1 suffix. According to Nwachukwu (65), “there is another way of

forming past tense by using -bx”.

87. Examples,

Present tense Past tense Translated forms

Q di Q dibx He/She used to be dark
oji. oji. complexion.

Also, bxrx is used to form past tense in the Igbo language.

88. Example,

Igbo present tense Igbo past tense Translated form

O toro O He/she used to be tall.

ogologo toburu

ogologo.

O nwere O He/She used to be

ego. nwebxrx wealthy.

ego.

89. Examples of Simple Perfective Aspect Formation

Prefixes Verb Suffix Suffixes Inflected Igbo sentences Translated forms

roots words
e bu Té la ebutela Ńgqz[ Ngozi has brought it.
 ebutela
ya.
 78

a rx chá la arxchala Ibe Ibe has finished the it.
 arxchala
 ya.

4.8 The {-s} Form or the Third Person Singular Form

This inflection does not exist in the Igbo language but the English language

has this inflectional suffix -s for the third person singular verb. The following

paradigm shows the third person singular of the present tense and its relationship with

the first and the second persons.

Singular first person: I walk

Second person: you walk

Third person: he/she/it walks

Plural first person: we walk

Second person: you walk

Third person: they walk

The English language uses the base form in the present tense for every person except

the third person in the singular. The relationship between the verb form and the

subject which precedes it is one of the aspects of concord. In other words, the person

and number of the subject controls the form the verb takes.

90. Examples using the third person singular in sentences

(a) Miriam/she likes listening to blues.

(b) He goes to school on time every day.

(c) Ify listens to 9. Pm news every night.

(d) It jumps out through the window.

4.9 Prefixes in the English Language

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There are many prefixes in the English language. The prefixes of the English

language are grouped into the following types according to Ukwuegbu, Okoro, Idris,

Okebukola, and Owokade (106-115).

 Negative prefixes.

 Prefixes indicating degree or size.

 Attitudinal prefixes.

 Prefixes that show position, time, and order.

 Prefixes that show location.

(a) Negative Prefixes

These prefixes have negative implications. They include un-, dis-, counter-,

and de-. Their specific negative connotations are tabulated below.

91. Examples,

Prefixes Meaning Examples

a un- to reverse the action untie
unpack
undo
unlock
uncover
b dis- the opposite of disagree
discredit
disown
disconnect
dislike
disbelieve
c counter- against, in opposition to counter-attack
 80

counter-sign
counteract
d de- to reverse the action decode

(b) Prefixes Indicating Degree or Size

Some other prefixes show degree or size as indicated in the following table

92.

Prefixes Meaning Examples

a out- to greater extent than outgrow
outcry
outspoken
b over- too much over work
over do
over eat
c under- below undercook
undersize
underrate

(c) Prefixes of Attitude

Some other prefixes show attitude as indicated in the following table

 81

93.

Prefixes Meaning Examples

a co- together with co-exist
coincide
co-produced

(d) Locative Prefixes

94. Examples,

Prefixes Meaning Examples

a sub- a smaller part of something subdivide
subset
b inter- between inter-marry
c trans- into another place or state transplant
transform
d be- to make or treat somebody as become
something bedazzle

(e) Prefixes of Time and Order

95. Examples,

Prefixes Meaning Examples

a fore- before foretell
 82

forecast
b re- again rebuild
re-evaluate
re-echo
re-apply

In the English language, the prefix is attached to both verb and other form

classes. Though this is not the concern of this work.

4.10 Prefixes in the Igbo Language

According to Agbedo, (91) “in the Igbo language, prefixation is verb based; no other

word class undergoes this kind of morphological processes”. The Igbo language

prefixes are only attached on the verb. The prefixes are the harmonizing vowel prefix

{a-/e-} and {i-/ị-}. This shows that the prefix is the property of the Igbo verb.

(a) Prefixes {i-/ị-} for deriving infinitive

96. Examples, {i/ị} are used to derive infinitives.

Prefixes Verb Derived words Translated forms

roots
i si  i si to cook
[ gbá [gba to kick
[ zà [zà to swell
í bé íbe to peel

(b) Prefixes {-a/-e} for deriving present participle

Here, the prefixes {-a/-e} are used to derive present participle/continuous tense.

97. Examples,

Prefixes Verb Derived words Translated forms

roots
 83

a ga  aga going
e me  eme doing
a ñx  añx  drinking

(c) Prefixes {-n/-m} for deriving nouns from verbs

Also, different types of nouns can be derived from verbs by prefixing certain

bound morphemes with, {-n/-m} that is, syllabic nasals to the verb root.

98. Examples,

Prefixes Verb Derived words Translated forms

roots
n kx ńkx firewood
m Mā mmā beauty

(d) Prefixes {-q/-o} {-m/-n} for deriving other form classes from verbs

Igbo prefixes are derivational affixes. Other form classes are derived from the

verb by the use of prefixes. For example, we can derive different types of nouns from

verbs.

99. Examples,

Prefixes Verb Derived words Translated forms

roots
n ri  nri  food
o  rx  orx  work
q  ñx  qñx happiness

(e) Syllabic nasal prefixes {-m/-n} for driving verbal noun

There are cases where we have syllabic nasals {-m or –n} as prefixes that are attached

to a compound verb or verbs with enclitics to form verbal nouns.

100. Examples,
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Prefixes Compound verbs Derived words Translated forms

m wepx mwepx taking out
n richa nricha finishing food
m b[as[  mb[as[ finishing coming

From the ongoing, one can understand that the Igbo prefixes are verb based,

no other word class undergoes this kind of morphological process.

4.11 The English Language Affixation

The English language affixation includes prefixation and suffixation.

Prefixation has been defined earlier on as, a morphological process whereby a bound

morpheme is attached to the front of a root or stem. Suffixation also has been defined

earlier as, a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme is attached to the end

of a root or stem.

101. Examples of English verbal prefixation

Prefixes Verb roots Derived words

pre- judge pre-judge

pre- select pre-select
re- view re-view
re- elect re-elect
re- emerge re-emerge

Sentence : (a) They took care not to prejudge the issue.

(b) The cancer may re-emerge years after.

From the above, prefixes are added to the verb roots to form new words.
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102. Examples of English Verbal Suffixation

Verb roots Suffixes Derived words

ague -ment augment
adapt -ion adaptation
authorize -ation authorization
supervise -ion supervision

Sentence: She won the augment.

Here, suffixes are added to the verb roots to form new words.

In English language, suffixation cut across different grammatical categories. Though

this is not the concern of this work.

4.12 The Igbo Language Affixation

The Igbo language affixation include: prefixation, suffixation, interfixation,

and circumfixation. The Igbo prefixation is verb based, no other word class undergoes

this kind of morphological process. The Igbo language prefixes are only attached to

the verb.

103.

4.12.1 Examples of Igbo Prefixation

Prefixes Root Suffix Suffix Derived Translated forms

words words
e ri e la eriela have eaten (present
perfect)
a gx agx reading (present
participle)
e bú èbú carrying (present
participle)
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104 Igbo sentences Translated forms

(a) ´Ọ n’ àgú ákwúkwό. He/She is reading

(b) Há éríélá nri. They have eaten food

(c) Há n’ èbú όché. They are carrying chair

The Igbo language suffixation is only “verb base” Agbedo, (94).

The Imperative Mood Suffix

This mood describes sentence that gives order. This is usually realized by applying

the open vowel suffix with four possible realizations according to the vowel harmony

{ọ/o} and {e/a}.

105.

4.12.2 Examples of Igbo Suffixation

Verb roots Suffixes Inflected Igbo sentences Translated

words forms
si e sie Sie nri Cook food.
za a zaa Zaa Sweep the house.
xlq
gbù ό gbùό Gbùό yá. Kill it.
px ό pụq Pụό. Get out.

106. Igbo sentences Translated forms

(a) Ńné yá dòrò ya áká n’ ńtì yá síe ńrí áhx. Her mother warned her to

cook the
 87

food.

(b) ónyé ńkúzí yá gwàrà yá zaá úlò áhx. Her teacher instructed her to sweep

the house.

107.

4.12.3 Examples of Igbo Interfixation

Words Interfixes Translated forms
ede-r-ede -r- essay

ata-m-ata -m- food

aka-r-aka -r- destiny

108. Igbo sentences Translated forms

(a): Akaraka g[ amaka. Your
destiny is bright.
(b) Onye nkuzi nyere xmxakwxkwq ya
ederede. The teacher gave her/his
students essay.
109.

4.12.4 Examples of Igbo Circumfixation

Words Circumfixation Translated forms

Agbamxqsq Agba-mx-qsq act of running

Eyimuegwx eyi-mu-egwx act of frightening

110. Igbo sentences Translated forms

Ńd[ xlq akwxkwq any[ sqrq mpi

agbamuqsq unyahx. Our school had a race

competition yesterday.
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The circumfixal frame in the Igbo language according to Anagbogu, Mba and Eme

(102) is A/E –mx.

Research Question III

What are the Pedagogical Implications of the absence/differences of some of the

Affixes in either of the Language?

Because of the absence of some affixes in the Igbo language, the Igbo learner

of English faces certain problems especially the problem of over-generalization based

on analogy and spelling errors. This is because of the differences in the realisation of

some affixes in the two languages.

Firstly, in the Igbo language, the formation of past tense is by the addition of

past tense marker -rv that forms the past tense. Example, b[a + ra = b[ara. Though

there are other few ways of forming past tense in Igbo like: addition of bụ in: ´Ọ

d[bx òjí (past tense) and O tobxrx ogologo (bxrx is

added here) but the -rv is the regular way of forming past tense in Igbo. In the English

language, the formation of the past tense is not always regular. For the English words

to form past tense in a regular verb you add -ed. For example, walk + ed = walked.

However, the English language form past tense through other ways for instance, there

are some verbs that do not change their form, example the verb put has put as the

past tense. For the Igbo learner of the English language, he might decide to add -ed to

all root verbs thinking the Igbo language function as the English language, thereby

wrongly realising putted for the past tense of put.

Also, the perfect aspect of Igbo language is consistent. It is usually realised by

the suffix -la but in English it is realized by the verb – has/have with -ed suffix.

English also has other irregular verbs in realising the perfect tense as it is in past
 89

tense. These other ways of realizing past tense and perfect tense in the English

language pose a problem to a second language learner of English.

Again, the -s form or the third person form does not exist in Igbo and

therefore, poses a problem for an Igbo learner of the English language. The type of

problem an Igbo language learner of English faces here is as a result of analogical

levelling. For example, because Igbo has no inflectional suffix for the third person

singular verb, the following errors are common;

111. Examples,

 Ikenna finish his morning chores everyday before going to school.

 The baby cry always when she is hungry.

 The student go to school on foot everyday.

 Obi eat rice always.

Since -s is the suffix that marks plural nouns in English, the analogy is carried over to

the verbs that have plural subjects.

112. Examples,

 Ikechukwu and Ifeoma sings always.

 They goes to school everyday.

 My parents likes taking us around the city.

Also, there is the problem of neglecting the third person singular forms of the verbs

where there is intervention of adverbs.

113. Examples,

 Chike always go to school.

 She never do anything without a motive.

 He hardly read at night.

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The incomplete knowledge of past tense formation leads to the following problems.

114.

Present tense Wrongly realized past forms The correct past forms

eat * eated ate

Put *putted put

Cut *cutted cut

Sing *singed sang

Also, the learner will have spelling problem in the progressive form, with reference

to the verbs whose final consonants are doubled when -ing is affixed to them.

115. Example,

Wrongly realized progressive forms The correct progressive forms

*stoping stopping

*putting putting

*siting Sitting

*seting setting

Finally, in as much as prefixes in English and Igbo verbs are placed before the root or

stem. Prefixation in English verbs still poses a problem to the Igbo learner of English.

Prefixes in Igbo verbs are limited to a few vowels that are conditioned by vowel

harmony and in some cases the syllabic nasals. Prefixes in Igbo are only affixed to the

verb root while in the English language, there are many prefixes. The Igbo learner

therefore, faces the problem of how to master a large number of distinctive prefixes in
 91

English verbs. Common among Igbo learners of English is the neglect of the use of

the prefixes in sentences. Rather, they prefer using analogous constructions.

116. Examples,

(1) “The woman treated the child badly” for “The woman maltreated the child.”

(2) “He divided the work into two” for “He subdivided the work.”

(3) “Chike does not like the action of his friend” for “Chike dislikes the action of

his friend,”

(4) “He did not believe his opponent” for “He disbelieved his opponent.”

(5) “He gave him a wrong information” for “He misinformed him.”

Another example is where the learner may use the wrong prefix in place of the right

one. Probably due to L1 interference as in the following,

117. Examples,

* “Indecided” for “undecided”

* “Indisciplined” for “undisciplined”

These wrong uses of prefixes are as a result of poor mastery of the use of English

prefixes.

Research Question IV

To what Extent will the Study Help the Second Language Learner towards

Achieving Proficiency and Intelligibility in the Language?

From the foregoing, one understands that there is a relationship that exists

between morphology and syntax. This relationship that affects on both morphology

and syntax is technically referred to as morpho-syntax. To be precise, the aspect of

morphology that relates with syntax is inflection. Inflectional affixes are bound
 92

morphemes that give grammatical information relevant to the interpretation of a

sentence.

Syntax and inflection are complementary and constitute the principal part, if

not the whole, of what we call grammar. Jointly, they determine the grammaticality

(i.e. the grammatical well-formed ness) of sentences: the syntax, by specifying how

lexemes combine with one another in a particular construction; the inflectional rules

by specifying which of the forms of the lexeme should occur in one construction

rather than another.

Thus, in this study, especially in contrasting verbal affixation of the English

and Igbo languages, we observe that this study will help the second language learner

towards achieving proficiency and intelligibility in the target language (i.e. English).

This is because, one of the aspects of affixation is inflection and it discusses tense and

aspect. So, when these rules of inflection are learnt and understood by the second

language learner (Igbo speakers) it will bring about grammatical well formed ness of

sentences.

For example, the Igbo learner will construct such grammatical sentences

because he has mastered the rules of English inflection.

118. (a) Ifeoma loves oranges.

(b) Ifeoma does not like oranges.

(c) Ifeoma threw her oranges on the floor.

(d) Ifeoma is eating her oranges.

(e) Ifeoma was eating her oranges.

(f) Ifeoma has eaten her oranges.

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On the other hand, when the learner of the English language has learnt and

understood the verbal derivational processes and apply prefixes and suffixes

correctly, the learner will master one of the word formation processes (derivation) of

the target language and use them correctly in their expressions. The second language

learner will be able to apply the following rules of verbal affixation correctly as

below:
 94

119. Examples, prefixation

Prefixes Root words Derived words
co- exist coexist
dis- regard disregard
dis- own disown
un- earth unearth
un- do undo
un- seat unseat
out- bid out bid
out- put output
out- wit outwit
out- weigh outweigh
over- cook over cook
over- charge over charge

120. Examples, Suffixation

Root words Prefixes Derived words

collect -ion collection
afforest -ation afforestation
teach -er teacher
act -or actor
cool -er cooler
beg -ar beggar
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CHAPTER FIVE

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations

5.1 Introduction

In this chapter, the summary of the study, recommendations and conclusion are

presented.

5.2 Summary of the Findings

This work is on a contrastive study of the Igbo and English affixation but it is

narrowed down to verbal affixation because of the time available to the researcher and

also because the Igbo language hardly has affixes on any other grammatical categories

other than the verbs. From the above research work, it could be seen that the Igbo and

English languages are of different linguistic backgrounds and typologically, they have

areas of similarities and differences. Differences in affixation processes in English and

Igbo create problem in second language learning especially in the verbal affixation.

In the verbal inflectional affixation, the formation of past tense in Igbo is mostly

regular – rv suffix though there are other few ways of doing so. In the English language,

the formation of past tense is – ed in regular past tense. The English language has other

ways of realizing past tense that are irregular and this poses a problem to a second

language learner of the English language. Also, the Igbo language forms the perfect

aspect by the addition of -la suffix to the verb root but in the English language, it is

regularly realized by the verb has/have + -ed past participle suffix. English also

constructs the irregular perfect aspect by the combination of has/have + past participle in

irregular forms. These irregular forms of realizing the perfect aspect create problem to the

Igbo learner of the English language. Also, the -s form or third person form does not exist

in the Igbo language and therefore, poses a problem for an Igbo learner of the English

language.
 96

Again, in the verbal derivational affixation, the English language has many

prefixes. These prefixes denote different ideas such as: negativity, degree, size, attitude,

position, time, order and location. But in the Igbo language, we observe that prefixes are

derivational affixes. That is, other form classes are derived from the verbs by the use of

prefixes which are limited to a few vowels that are conditioned by vowel harmony and in

some cases, syllabic nasals. See examples 96-100.

Therefore, in as much as prefixes in English and Igbo are placed before the verb

root or stem, the prefixation in English verbs still pose a problem to the Igbo learner of

English. This is because, in English, there are many prefixes. The Igbo learner therefore,

faces the problem of how to master a large number of distinctive prefixes in English

verbs and this poses a problem.

5.3 Recommendations

The learner of a target language (English) should know where the two languages

have the same structure in the use of the affixes and where the structures differ.

Contrastive analysis is not only useful to the learners of the language. It is also useful to

the language the teacher. Teacher should emphasize his teaching on these problem areas

for the better understanding of the learner. The language teacher should focus his

teaching on the areas of differences in both languages. In doing so, he should employ

varieties of teaching methods to help the students learn better. This is because using

different approaches, activities and materials makes learning more interesting and gives

the learners the opportunity to make progress. One of the ways of learning a Second

Language is through the process of verbal “habit formation”. Habits are established

through stimulus-response conditioning, which led to the ‘over learning’ of the

grammatical patterns of a language. In order to help learners overcome the habits of their
 97

native language and inculcate those of the target language, teachers should conduct

pattern practice drills of various types: repetition, transformation, question and answer.

Also, teachers should introduce little new vocabulary until the grammatical

patterns were firmly established. Finally, the teacher may need to give more guided

practice in teaching grammar and vocabulary. Textbook writers and syllabus designer

will also benefit from this study. They will know the areas to emphasize in textbooks

with regard to the problem areas of the students.

5.4 Conclusion

Learning a new language involves the transfer of existing habits. The learner of a

second language therefore, should be conscious of the problems he may encounter while

learning a second language.

The contrastive analysis of Igbo and English verbal affixes show that one of the

problem areas of a language is in word formation. Word formation through affixation is a

general method in the structures of the English and Igbo languages but its realization

poses some problem.

The formation of new words and the grammatical changes in word formation are

not always consistent. The inconsistencies are regarded as exceptions to the rule. Some of

these exceptional areas are the problem areas of the learners. Due to the differences in the

realization of some affixes in the two languages, the Igbo learner of English faces certain

problems especially the problem of overgeneralization based on analogy and spelling

errors.

It is assumed that every language has its own complex way of forming new

words. Therefore for an Igbo learner of English to be effective in the knowledge of

English morphology, he must understand the use of affixes as the basis of word formation

and formation of certain aspect of syntax in English.

 98

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