MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF THE IBIBIO VERB

Rosemary Ekerete Benjamin

Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria

Email: rosemaryebenjamin@uniuyo.edu.ng

Abstract
This study examined the morphological processes of the Ibibio verb. The specific objectives were to investigate how and where verbal constituents are distributed and realised across morphological constructions and to discuss the morphological processes of Ibibio verb in order to explore the different morphological alternations internal to the verb complex. The theoretical framework adopted was Lexicalist theory. The study was a qualitative research with a descriptive survey design. Information was obtained through the process of elicitation and introspection. The result of the study showed that the Ibibio language is a verb centered language. It was observed that most grammatical properties in Ibibio were indicated by affixes attached to the verb roots; thus, affixes formed the head of constructs to determine the grammatical category of the morphological constructions. The effects of the pervasive nature of the Ibibio language become predominant in the areas of grammatical contrasts, verb alternations, cliticisation, verb compounding, derivational and inflectional processes and reduplication. Thus, circumfixation and interfixation processes were identified as part of Ibibio affixation processes to add to the most commonly known ones- prefixation and suffixation, while infixation becomes unproductive in Ibibio language. Partial reduplication, clipping and plurisation functioned as incidental by-products of phonology while the juxtaposition or incorporation of two verbs resulted in category incorporated preposition.

Keywords: Morphology, Ibibio Verb, Prefix, Suffix.