SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The first part of the work is introductory to the second part and deals briefly with the following topics; (i) Phonology: (a) the function of tones in Igbo; (b) tone perturbation; (c) tone assimilation; (d) vowel harmony; (e) vowel assimilation; (f) vowel elision; (g) consonants: (ii) Morphology: (a) the morphological processes of duplication, reduplication, and triplication; (b) classes of verbs and the structure of verbs; (iii) Syntax: (a) the major types of Independent Verbal Clauses, both Simplex and Complex, Positive and Negative; (b) discussion of 'auxiliary verbs; (c) discussion of 'participle', 'cognate object', and 'na' prefix, and their rejection. The second part deals with the grammatical and lexical uses of affixes. The grammatical use of affixes is of two types: (i) Inflexional: the representation of the following grammatical categories by affixes: (a) Tense; (b) Aspect; (c) Case; (d) Number; � Modality; (f) Anaphora; (g) Comparison; (h) Emphasis; (ii) Derivational: the use of affixes to derive from verbs (a) Non-finite verbs; (b) Nouns; (c) Adjectives; (d) Adverbs. The final chapter deals with lexical suffixes and provides lists of verbs with such suffixes.