IFE PRONOUNS IN POLYLECTAL GRAMMAR
IFE PRONOUNS IN POLYLECTAL GRAMMAR
Credit: Prof L. O. Adewole
Yoruba for academic purpose
1 Introduction[1]
Ifẹ̀, according to
Abraham (1958:278), ‘is accepted as the parent-city of all the Yorùbá’.
This view is supported by Capo (1989:274) when he states that ‘almost
all groups (including the Igala, the Itsekiri and the Arigidi) like to
refer to Ifẹ or Ufẹ or Uhẹ (all variants of the same term) as their
cradle’. Capo (ibid), therefore, adopts the term ‘Defoid languages’ as a
‘non-transparent coinage based on èdè+ifẹ̀+oid ... èdè is the standard
Yorùbá term for ‘language’, ifẹ̀ refers to the presumed cradle and oid
is the group suffix’. The dialects of the Defoid group
occupy a compact
geographical area starting as a thin belt in the central part of Togo
Republic, expanding towards the sea in the Republic of Benin and
covering the whole of former Western Nigeria (Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Oyo
States) and parts of Bendel, Kwara, and Benue States. People speaking
these lects are also found in the West Indies, Brazil, Sierra Leone, and
elsewhere (Capo ibid: 276).
Ifẹ̀ itself is a dialect of the Defoid group. Here, a dialect refers to forms of a language
which are grammatically
(and perhaps lexically) as well as phonologically different from other
varieties. If two speakers say, respectively, I done it last night and I
did it last night, we can say they are speaking different dialects
(Chambers and Trudgiil 1980:5).
With this definition,
Standard Yorùbá would also be regarded as much a dialect as any other
form (see also Capo 1989:282). This is in line with the assumption of
Polylectal Grammars - grammars that incorporate more than one form. The
grounds for the need for polylectal grammars, according to Chambers and
Trudgiil (1980:51), are that
if generative
grammarians are attempting to provide a representation of native
speakers’ COMPETENCE, their knowledge of their language, this competence
must include their RECEPTIVE competence, their ability to understand
many varieties. The claim, then, is an overt one: that speakers actually
have internalised and ‘know’ some form of diasystemic grammar.
‘Each dialect - regional
or standard -’, therefore, ‘has its rules of grammar and meaning, and
children learn them, at home, in the street, or in the school’ (Crystal
1996:7). This is why dialectologists ‘look for the systems and
regularities and grammatical rules that are typical of the particular
dialect they happen to be investigating’ (Trudgill 1994:42).
For example, foreigners
studying Yorùbá are taught that before the negative marker, first person
singular pronoun, ‘mo’ (I), has an alternative form which is either
‘mi’ or ‘n’ (I) as in (1), but if one looks at (2), one can tell that
the rule for the negation of first person singular pronoun in (1) is not
the same as the one in (2).
1a) Mi ò lọ sílé/Mi ìn lọ sílé/N ò lọ sílé/N ǹ lọ sílé ‘I did not go home’
b) Mi ò gbé e/Mi ìn gbé e/N ò gbé e/N ǹ gbé e ‘I didn’t carry it’
2a) Mẹ́ẹ̀ lọ relé ‘I didn’t go home’
b) Méè gbé e ‘I didn’t carry it’
Two things should be
noted in the rules that apply to the dialects in (1) and (2). Firstly,
although there is a polarisation of positiveness and negativeness in the
first person singular pronoun in (1) and (2) (if we compare (2) with
(3), (3) is to be discussed later), their forms of representation are
different and secondly, the operation of vowel-harmony rules which are
available in (2) are absent in (1). In this paper, therefore, we shall
describe the grammar of Ifẹ̀ pronouns and show how they differ from the
pronouns of Standard Yorùbá.
2 Ifẹ̀ Pronouns
A pronoun, according to Bamgbose (1967:10)
is a word which cannot
have a qualifier in the nominal group. Pronouns have a system of number
(singular and plural) and of person (1st, 2nd and 3rd person). They also
have different forms for different syntactic positions.
2.1 Pronoun Subject
In the subject syntactic position, Ifẹ̀ has the following pronouns in (3).
3) Singular Plural
i mo/mọ ‘I’ a ‘we’
ii o/ọ ‘you’ ẹ ‘you’
iii ó/ọ́ ‘he/she/it’ ighán ‘they’
If we compare (3) with (4)[2],
we will notice the following: (i) the Ifẹ̀ singular pronouns have two
forms, the use of which depends on the tenseness or laxness of the vowel
of the first full verb in the predicate which the pronoun immediately
precedes. The lax vowels which take ‘mọ/ọ/ọ́’ (I/you/it, she or he)
are ‘a, ẹ, ọ’ and the tense vowels which take ‘mo/o/ó’ (I/you/it, she
or he) are ‘e, i, o, u’ as exemplified in (5); (ii) the third person
plural object pronoun in Ifẹ̀ is disyllabic (see 3) which shows that the
features, mono-syllabic versus di-syllabic, used by Fagborun
(1994:15-16) to distinguish the pronouns and the pronominals[3] in standard Yorùbá cannot be used to distinguish the two forms in Ifẹ̀. The pronominals are shown in (6).
4) Singular Plural
i mo ‘I’ a ‘we’
ii o ‘you’ ẹ ‘you’
iii ó ‘he/she/it’ wọ́n ‘they’
5a) Mọ wẹ̀/Mọ lọ/Mọ gbà á ‘I took a bath/I went/I got it’
b) Mo rí i/Mo rù ú/Mo pè é/Mo jó o ‘I saw it/I carried it/I called him/I burnt it’
6) Standard Yorùbá Ifẹ̀
Pronominals Pronominals
Singular Plural Singular Plural
èmi ‘I’ àwa ‘we’ èmi ‘I’ ìgha ‘we’
ìwọ ‘you’ ẹ̀yin ‘you’ ìwọ ‘you’ ẹ̀ghin ‘you’
òun ‘he/she/it’ àwọn ‘they’ òun ‘he/she/it ìghan ‘they’
Before the progressive
marker, n, in Standard Yorùbá, the first and second person pronouns have
an alternative form which has a low tone thus, ‘mò (I), ò (you), à
(we), ẹ̀ (you pl.)’ - as in ‘mò ń lọ’ or ‘mo ń lọ’ (I am going). The
progressive marker in Ifẹ̀ is mi
and the pronouns do not have any alternative form which has a low tone
before it, ie mo/mọ (I), o/ọ (you), ó/ọ́ (he/she/it), a (we), ẹ (you
pl), and ìghan (they) remain unchanged before it. Before the verb form á ‘will’, Standard Yorùbá has the subject pronoun series in (7a.). Ifẹ̀ also has a
‘will’ which occurs after nouns and the third person pronouns. However,
after the first and second person pronouns, it is its alternative form,
á ‘will’ that is used as in (7b). It should be noted, however, that
Ifẹ̀ does not have yóò ‘will’ as in Standard Yorùbá. Where Standard
Yorùbá uses yóò as in (8a), Ifẹ̀ still uses á/a as in (7b). Both
dialects use máa as an alternative form for ‘will’ as in (8b & c).
7a) i mà á lọ ‘I will go’ à/a á lọ ‘we will’
ii wà á lọ ‘you will go’ ẹ̀ á lọ ‘you pl. will go’
iii á á lọ ‘he/she/it will go’ wọ́n á lọ ‘they will go’
b) i mà á lọ/mà a lọ ‘I will go’ à á/a lọ ‘we will’
ii wọ̀ á lọ/wo a lọ ‘you will go’ ẹ̀ á/a lọ ‘you pl. will go’
iii á á lọ/a lọ ‘he/she/it will go’ ighán á lọ ‘they will go’
Adé á lọ ‘Adé will go’
8a) o óò lọ ‘you will go’ Adé yóò lọ ‘Adé will go’
8b) Standard Yorùbá
mo máa wẹ̀/mo máa lọ/mo máa gbà á ‘I will take a bath/I will go/I will get it’
mo máa rí i/mo máa rù ú/mo máa jó o ‘I will see it/I will carry it/I will burn it’
8c) Ifẹ̀
mọ máa wẹ̀/mọ máa lọ/mọ máa gbà á ‘I will take a bath/I will go/I will get it’
mo máa rí i/mo máa rù ú/mo máa jó o ‘I will see it/I will carry it/I will burn it’
2.2 Pronoun Object
In the object syntactic
position, Ifẹ̀ pronouns are given in (9b) and the Standard Yorùbá in
(9a). The tone of the pronoun object in both dialects, however, depends
on that of the preceding verb. The pronoun has a mid tone after a high
tone verb, a high tone after a low or mid tone verb. These are
exemplified in (l0a) for Standard Yorùbá and in (l0b) for Ifẹ̀. The tone
of the vowel of the second person plural is always high except when the
verb has a high tone when the vowel of the verb is lengthened on a mid
tone.
9a) Singular Plural 9b) Singular Plural
i mi’me’ wa ‘us’ mi ‘me’ a ‘us’
ii ọ/ẹ ‘you yín ‘you’ ọ ‘you ghín ‘you’
iii vowel of verb wọn ‘them’ vowel of verb ghan ‘them’
10a) O rí wa ‘you saw us’ (10b) O rí a ‘you saw us’
Ó jọ wá ‘he resembles us’ Ọ́ jọ á ‘he resembles us’
Ó wò wọ́n ‘he looked at them’ Ó wò ghán ‘he looked at them’
Ó rí i yín ‘he saw you’ Ó rí i ghín ‘he saw you’
2.3 Pronoun Qualifier
The pronouns are also
used as qualifiers in both dialects. (11a) contains the pronoun
qualifiers in Standard Yorùbá while in (11b) are the Ifẹ̀ pronoun
qualifiers. It should be noted, however, that the final syllable of the
noun head is optionally lengthened on a low tone before the first and
second person singular pronoun qualifiers and on a mid tone before the
third person singular pronoun qualifier in Standard Yorùbá. The noun
head is obligatorily lengthened on a mid tone before the other pronouns
in Standard Yorùbá (see 12a), however, there is no lengthening of the
vowel of the final syllable of the noun head for the pronoun qualifiers
in Ifẹ̀ in (12b).
11a) Singular Plural 11b) Singular Plural
mi ‘my’ wa ‘our’ mi ‘my’ ria ‘our’
rẹ/ẹ ‘your’ yín ‘your’ rẹ ‘your’ rin-ín ‘your’
rẹ̀ ‘his/her/its’ wọn ‘their’ rẹ̀ ‘his/her/its’ rin-an ‘their’
12a) iléè/ilé mi ‘my house’ 12b) ilé mi ‘my house’
iléè/ilé rẹ ‘your house’ ilé rẹ ‘your house’
ilée/ilé rẹ̀ ‘his/her/its house’ ilé rẹ̀ ‘his/her/its house’
ilée wa ‘our house’ ilé ria ‘our house’
ilée yín ‘your pl house’ ilé rin-ín ‘your pl house’
ilée wọn ‘their house’ ilé rin-an ‘their house’
3. Negation
Standard Yorùbá has the
alternative forms of the pronouns in (13a) before the negative marker.
Ifẹ̀ also has the ones in (13b). The consonant of the negative marker is
optionally deleted and its vowel optionally assimilated in Standard
Yorùbá. In Ifẹ̀, the deletion of the consonant of the negative marker
and the assimilation of the stranded vowel is obligatory. The third
person singular pronoun is obligatorily deleted before the negative
marker in Standard Yorùbá. The second person plural pronoun and one of
the forms of the third person singular pronoun are homonyms in Ifẹ̀.
13a) n kò lọ/n ò lọ/n ń lọ/mi ò lọ/mi ìn lọ ‘I did not go’
o kò lọ/o ò lọ ‘you did not go’
kò lọ ‘he/she/it did not go’
a kò lọ/a ò lọ/a à lọ ‘we did not go’
ẹ kò lọ/ẹ ò lọ/e ẹ̀ lọ ‘you pl did not go’ ‘you did not go’
wọn kò lọ/wọn ò lọ/wọn ọ̀n lọ ‘they did not go’
13b) mẹ́ ẹ̀ lọ/mé è ṣè é ‘I did not go/I did not do it’
ọ́ ọ̀ lọ/ó ò ṣè é ‘you did not go/you did not do it’
ẹ́ ẹ̀ lọ/é è ṣè é ‘he/she/it did not go/he/she/it did not do it’
á à lọ/á à ṣè é ‘we did not go/we did not do it’
e ẹ̀ lọ/é è ṣè é ‘you pl did not go/you pl did not do it’
ighán àn lọ/ighán àn ṣè é ‘’they did not go/they did not do it’
4. Reconstruction
Awobuluyi (1992) has
provided us with the base from which we can reconstruct the contemporary
Yorùbá pronouns. According to him, the short pronouns[4]
in (14) are derived from their long counterparts in (15) with the rules
in (16) for the first and second person plural short pronouns and the
rules in (17) for the others.
Subject Pronoun Object Pronoun
14) mi ‘I’ a ‘we’ mi ‘me’ wa ‘us’
(w)ọ ‘you’ ẹ ‘you pl’ ọ ‘you’ yín ‘you’
un ‘he/she/it’ wọn ‘they’ un ‘him/her/it’ wọn ‘them’
15) èmi ‘I’ àwa ‘we’
ìwọ ‘you’ ẹ̀yin ‘you pl’
òun ‘he/she/it’ àwọn ‘they’
16) Drop
the final syllable of the long pronoun to produce its corresponding
short form, changing any surviving tone to mid (Awobuluyi 1992:27).
17) Drop the initial syllable of the long pronoun to produce its corresponding short form (Awobuluyi 1992:27).
It is from the pronouns
in (14) and (15) that all Yorùbá dialects derive their pronouns by the
application of some morphophonemic rules.
If we apply these rules
to Ifẹ̀ and Standard Yorùbá pronouns, we will note the following. The
first person singular subject pronoun, ‘mo’ (I), is derived from ‘mi’
(I) in (14) through the process of coalescence by merger of ‘mi’ and the
high tone syllable. The high tone syllable contributes the vowel and
‘mi’ contributes the tone (Awobuluyi 1992: 29). Ifẹ̀ first person
singular subject pronoun has gone beyond this process. It has added the
process of vowel harmony to its own derivation hence the polarisation of
‘mo/mọ’ (I) that we have exemplified in (3i). As for the second person
singular subject pronoun, after the dropping of the initial vowel of
the long form, ‘ìwọ’, Ifẹ̀ adds the process of vowel harmony whilst
Standard Yorùbá assimilates the vowel of the pronoun to the tense/aspect
marker as in ‘wà á lọ’ (you will go), where Ifẹ̀ has ‘wọ̀ á/a lọ’
(you will go) (see 3ii, 4ii, 7aii & 7bii). As for the third person
singular subject pronoun, both dialects are at the same stage of
derivation as described by Awobuluyi (1992:25-26) thus:
The third person
singular object pronoun, un, undergoes assimilation, more specifically
Assimilation Rule 1,... when it is not coreferential with the speaker
Assimilation Rule 1 = V1 + V2 --> V1 + V1 where V2 = un.
This rule accounts for
the changing of un to the vowel of the preceding verb in Ifẹ̀ and
Standard Yorùbá as in (9aiii & 9biii)
The rule in (16) is used
for the derivation of the first and second person plural subject
pronouns while rule (17) is used for the derivation of the other plural
pronouns in Standard Yorùbá (see 4, 6 & 9a).
In Ife, rule (17) is
used for the derivation of (i) the first, second and third person plural
object pronouns and (ii) the first person plural subject pronoun. The
first person plural subject and object pronouns, however, delete their
consonant after the application of the rule (see 3 and 9b). Also in Ife,
rule (16) is used for the derivation of the second person plural
subject pronoun (see 3ii) while there is only a change of tone for the
derivation of the third person plural subject pronoun as in (3). It
should be noted, however, that the voiced velar fricative, gh, that
still occurs in Ifẹ̀ in (3, 6 & 9b) is an older form of Standard
Yorùbá’s labiovelar approximant w, in (4, 6 & 9a) (see Awobuluyi
1992:40).
5 Concluding Remark
In this paper, we have
shown that the pronouns of Ifẹ̀ differ from those of Standard Yorùbá at a
number of points. These differences are the result of linguistic
change. Changes that have taken place in one dialect have not taken
place in the other. It would not be true, however, to say that any of
the dialects is more conservative than the other. From our discussion in
section 4, we have shown that at some points in the development of its
pronoun, Ifẹ̀ is clearly innovative. For example, it goes beyond the
process of coalescence by merger for the derivation of its first person
singular subject pronoun and adds the process of vowel harmony. Standard
Yorùbá does not use vowel harmony here. In other cases, it is Standard
Yorùbá that is leading the way. Most dialects of Yorùbá, including Ife,
for example, continue to use the voiced velar fricative, gh, which is an
older form of the labiovelar approximant, w, used in Standard Yorùbá.
Further studies on other areas of Yorùbá dialects will reveal how they
differ from each other in their grammatical structures as well as their
pronunciation.
Bibliography
Abraham. R C (1958), Dictionary of Modem Yorùbá. London: University of London Press.
Adetugbo, Abiodun
(1967), ‘The Yorùbá Language in Western Nigeria: Its Major Dialect
Areas.’, PhD Dissertation. Colombia University.
Adetugbo, Abiodun (1973). The Yorùbá Language in Yorùbá History’, in Sources of Yorùbá History, edited by S.O. Biobaku. pp 176-204. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Awobuluyi, O. (1992), ‘Aspects of Contemporary Standard Yorùbá in Dialectological Perspective’, in New Findings in Yorùbá Studies, edited by A. Isola, pp 1-79. Ibadan: J F Odunjo Memorial Lectures.
Bamgbose, Ayo (1967), A Short Yorùbá Grammar. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigerian) Ltd.
Capo, H B C (1989), ‘Defoid’, in The Niger-Congo Languages, edited by John Bendor-Samuel, pp 275-290. Lenham: University Press of America.
Chambers J K and Peter Trudgill (1980), Dialectology. Cambridge: CUP.
Crystal, David (1996), ‘Slip of the Mother Tongue’, The Independent on Sunday, p 7.
Fagborun, J Gbenga (1994), Yorùbá Verbs and their Usage: An Introductory Handbook for Learners. Bradford: Virgocap Press.
Trudgill, Peter (1994), Dialects, edited by Richard Hudson. London: Routledge.
[1]
This paper was written during my stay as a Leventis Research Fellow at
the Centre of African Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London between January and March 1996. I should like to
express my gratitude to the Centre for the award and Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria for granting me a sabbatical in order to
take up the fellowship. This paper was formerly published as L.O.
Adewole (1996) “Ife Pronouns in Polylectal Grammar”, Journal of Nigerian
Languages and Literatures, No. 2, 56-63.
[2] (4) contains the Standard Yorùbá pronouns in the subject syntactic position.
[3] ‘A pronominal is a noun which resembles a pronoun by having a system of number and of person’
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